Paradoxical
by Peonywinx
Summary: When Artemis doesn't return after a trip to Haven, his family thinks he's gone missing, but Holly and Foaly know better. So when someone stirs up trouble underground again, the LEP are on their own, because Artemis cannot help them.
1. Prologue

**Paradoxical**

**Prologue **

**Central Park, New York City**

The city resounded with the pattering of rain and the splashes of water. Gleaming roofs shed their moisture onto the roads, which were slick and wet. Tiny rivulets streamed down everything that was exposed to the steady drips of water from the sky, including the strange, diminutive figure huddled on the park bench.

The figure was obviously male, but not much else could positively be said regarding his identity. He was short, slightly over a metre tall, with cropped dark hair and an impressive physique for his size. He carried himself like a soldier, and underneath his wide, mirrored sunglasses (why he was wearing sunglasses on such a dark, grey, rainy day is anyone's guess) his eyes were a strange shade of brown – some might call it mud brown.

The figure shifted, and the wide-brimmed hat he wore moved with his body, exposing the tip of an undoubtedly pointed ear. Had there been witnesses around, this may have caused a slight alarm – but it was raining, and not many people willingly stay in a park once they start getting wet. As such, there was nobody around to hear the figure utter a short curse and see him readjust his hat.

After a few seconds, the figure carefully unfolded a soggy copy of the _New York Times. _He gingerly turned the pages until he found an article that interested him.

As fate had it, the story that drew his attention was one that many in New York had been following in earnest. The page's headline read:

ARTEMIS FOWL STILL MISSING

Now usually, the affairs concerning other parts of the world were not regularly followed by the local citizens (unless they were of great importance – the affairs, not the citizens) – but the Fowl case was unique, and certainly unusual.

The Fowls were an Irish multi-millionaire family who could trace their roots back to the Middle Ages, and everyone had heard of them, mostly because of their famous – or rather infamous – criminal acts. Many a grand theft or scheme-of-the-decade had been committed by a Fowl, though it was said that the latest generation was going legitimate. The Fowl in question, Artemis Junior, though barely sixteen, already had an Interpol file of five gigabytes, but he had not done anything illegal for over two years, so maybe there was some truth in the claim.

Fowl fame being what it was, when Artemis Senior reported his son missing, naturally the tabloids picked it up like the flu. Soon news of the Fowl heir's disappearance had spread across the globe. Details were sketchy at first, but gradually, the pieces were put together by some of Ireland's finest detectives.

On the night of September 23rd, three weeks after his sixteenth birthday, Artemis Fowl II left Fowl Manor with an unidentified female friend (a girlfriend, maybe?) in tow. An official statement from the young heir's bodyguard (known simply as 'Butler') declares that Artemis was merely going for a week-long visit with his friend. The 'visit' was extended for two days at the behest of Artemis, who informed his parents via a phone call. But when he still failed to show after that time, and no contact with him could be gained, Artemis Senior and his wife Angeline Fowl reported their son missing. That had been over six months ago.

In all honesty, this was not the first time a Fowl had made head news. Artemis Senior had been held captive by the Russian Mafiya for over two years, and young Artemis Junior himself had made the front page when it was discovered that he was three years younger than his birth certificate said he should be. There were even rumours that Artemis had been missing for those three unaccounted years, but there were no official records to prove it and anyway, how could one possibly disappear for three years and return exactly the same age one had been when one left? It was for this reason that authorities had passed off Artemis's birth certificate as a mistake, but there was no denying that the Fowl family was attracting a lot of attention.

After reading the report in the newspaper – his back stiff, his frown growing more pronounced by the minute – the short, pointy-eared little man on the bench emitted a sound that was remarkably close to a growl. In his mind, he was thinking, _What has Fowl been up to?_

Then he muttered an unheard-of word in a strange language.

"D'Arvit", he swore.

* * *

**_A/N: Aahh! I'm back! Oh, wait, I say that everytime. Oh, well. This will be a multi-chaptered story (obviously), so sit back and enjoy the ride! Reviews appreciated!_**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_Artemis Fowl.  
_


	2. Chapter One

**_September 23__, __six months ago, Fowl Manor, Dublin, Ireland_**

_ Holly alighted on the window sill that was always left open for her. The window led into Artemis's study, and since it was only nine o' clock, Artemis, naturally, was still in the room._

_ "Good evening, Artemis", Holly greeted as she unshielded._

_ "Holly!" exclaimed Artemis, rising from his chair. "What a pleasant surprise. To what do I owe the honour of this unexpected visit? Another underworld crisis? Opal again, maybe?"_

_ Holly laughed. "No, nothing like that." And then she winked and said, "I told you I'd visit someday just because, didn't I?"_

**Chapter One **

**Haven City, the Lower Elements**

Commander Trouble Kelp made his way across Haven City, trying not to think about what he was going to do. Arguing with Major Holly Short at the best of times wasn't high on his to-do list, and if an argument followed after he delivered his news to her (as it certainly would), it would be worse than the average quarrel.

Trouble sighed as he reached Holly's apartment block. Since the disaster at LEP Headquarters half a year ago, Holly had been a changed elf. The loss of Artemis Fowl had a profound effect on her, and even after she came back to duty after her two-month-long break, Trouble was afraid to send her out on any missions. Holly was just not herself lately, but after six months, with another crisis brewing on his hands, Trouble would have to do the last thing he wanted to do: deliver an ultimatum to Holly Short.

He hated to admit it, but the Council was right. They couldn't afford to keep Holly on LEPrecon if she wasn't doing anything to help. Times were tough; Recon's budget had been slashed, Opal Koboi was showing signs of restlessness in her prison, more than one fairy's life had been lost in the explosion six months prior, and Holly, one of LEPrecon's best officers, was sunk waist-deep in depression and post-traumatic shock that should have worn off weeks ago.

Trouble couldn't believe she was reacting this badly to Artemis's death. He was just a Mud Boy, for Frond's sake! But a tiny voice in his mind disagreed. Deep down, Trouble knew a certain bond, the likes of which had rarely been seen, had been forged between Holly Short and Artemis Fowl II. That bond was the cause of Holly's depression, and it had been wearing her down for months. It was a testament to Holly's strength of character that she had not succumbed to the depression a long time ago.

Trouble knocked on Holly's door with a sinking feeling in his gut. This was not going to be pretty.

"Holly", he called, rapping his knuckles on the refined steel. "Holly, open up. I know you're in there. Holly."

He almost didn't expect her to let him in – he thought he'd have to blast his way through – but Holly responded to his call and opened the door.

"Hello, Trouble", she greeted him pleasantly, and Trouble's anxiety lessened slightly. Maybe she was finally coming out of it. "What brings you to my apartment?"

"Holly, we need to talk", said Trouble seriously.

Holly paused on her way to the kitchen. "That doesn't look good", she noted. "Before we talk, would you like some tea?"

"Tea would be good", Trouble agreed, "but I'm afraid this can't wait. Sit down, Holly."

Holly sat, and Trouble swallowed. Subtlety had never been his strong point.

"Listen, Holly", he began, "I know you're still upset about Artemis…"

Holly froze. "_Still_ upset?" she echoed incredulously. "Did you expect me to have gotten over it by now?"

"Well, I was hoping…"

"Hoping what, Trouble?" Holly demanded. "That I would just forget it?"

"Well of course I knew you wouldn't…"

"Darn right I won't", said Holly.

"Holly, Artemis made his choice", Trouble said. "He knew what would happen, and he did it anyway. He did what he had to. He did the right thing."

Holly's eyes, one blue, one hazel, screwed up, and tears began to leak.

"I know", she said in almost a whisper. "I know. Who would've thought Artemis Fowl would do _the right thing_?"

Trouble was alarmed. He'd thought his words would comfort Holly. Apparently they didn't.

"There, there, Holly", he said awkwardly. "He'd changed, Holly. The Artemis Fowl who kidnapped you changed into a kinder, more compassionate person."

"Compassionate enough to kill himself for the sake of a fairy city", Holly murmured brokenly, relaxing into Trouble's solidarity hug. "Why did it have to be him, Trouble?"

"Because no one else was smart enough to figure it out", Trouble answered. He turned her head to face him. "I know you cared for him, Holly, but you have to let him go. Artemis is gone."

Holly sobbed into his chest. "I don't want to let him go. He was my friend. My best friend. I've lost so many people, Trouble – my parents, Julius, Vinyáya – and now Artemis. It isn't fair."

"I know it's not, Holly, I know it's not", consoled Trouble. "But it's not healthy for you to hold on to him like this. The LEP needs you. I need you. It's time to let go."

Holly cried harder. "You know what this means, don't you?"

"I do", Trouble replied heavily. They would have to inform Butler. The bodyguard could tell Artemis's parents the sorrowful news. The only reason they didn't already know was because Holly insisted that the LEP let them think Artemis was missing. Holly's tiny hope was that the human detectives would uncover proof that Artemis was somehow miraculously alive, as she refused to accept the fact that he was dead until they found a body, which they hadn't.

"He could still be alive, you know", Holly said, but without much belief. It was clear she was trying to convince herself. "We never found his body."

"Maybe not, but who's to say the explosion didn't incinerate him whole?" Trouble pointed out. "It's been six months. If he was alive, don't you think he would try to get a message through, even if he couldn't come in person?"

"Not if he was in a coma", sniffed Holly, unwilling to let go.

"Holly", said Trouble gently, "he's gone. You have to accept that so you can function. We need you at your best to handle this new crisis."

Holly wiped her tears with the heels of her hands. "Yes, I know." She sighed heavily. "I need closure", she stated, a glimmer of her old self shining through like a beacon of hope to Trouble. "Give me a week and I'll be back at LEPrecon as your top officer."

Trouble smiled. "That's the spirit", he encouraged. "I'll be waiting." He pulled away and stood by the door. "Oh, Holly?" he said.

"Yes?"

"Some hot-headed sprite broke your record for core-diving. You might want to break it again."

"I'll see how long I'll let him have the spot", said Holly with her first real grin since Artemis died. Trouble grinned back and left, leaving Holly to reflect on their conversation.

Holly sat in deep thought for a while before going to her bedroom to look in the mirror. If she hadn't been looking at that same reflection everyday for the past six months, she wouldn't have recognised herself. It wasn't that her features were any different. Apart from her hair, which had grown significantly longer, she was completely recognisable. Only her expression suggested that Holly Short was not the person she had once been.

_All right, Major Short, straighten up, _thought Holly to herself, arranging her face into its normal merry expression. _Put some iron back in your spine. Imagine what Artemis would say if he saw you in this state._

Holly cringed, but quickly recomposed her features. Her time of grieving was over – long over. From now on, she refused to cry anymore over Artemis Fowl II.

It would take time, but Holly Short would become the person she once was. This she was determined to do, for Trouble, for the LEP, and for herself. And she would take the first step in five hours.

Tonight, she would visit Fowl Manor to deliver the news its inhabitants deserved.

_Butler, old friend, _Holly said mentally, _long time no see._

_

* * *

**A/N: Yikes! Artemis is dead! Yeah, yeah...sorry to do this to you, readers, but it's an essential part of the story. You'll find out why he had to die later. Thanks to my first five reviewers **dimka-roza-belikova, mischievous101, Beckett Simpleton, RideForeverO.o, **and **__ghostsaliensteletubbiesohmy. **One quick aside that I forgot to mention, yesterday, the first day of posting, October 23, was my birthday. Yay! I'm fifteen!**_

**Disclaimer: Actually, no, I did not get the rights to **_Artemis Fowl _**as a birthday present. **


	3. Chapter Two

**_September 23, Fowl Manor_**

"_Mother!" called Artemis. No matter how many times Angeline Fowl asked him to call her Mom, Artemis couldn't bring himself to do it. He just wasn't that sort of person._

_ "What is it, Arty?" asked Angeline._

_ "Holly's here", answered Artemis. "She's invited me to spend a week with her in Haven. May I go?"_

_ "Oh, Arty", sighed Angeline. "I know you want to, but after last time…"_

_ "There's nothing dangerous happening at the moment, Mother", Artemis promised. "This really will be just a visit."_

_ "What do I say to your father?"_

_ "The truth. That I'm merely going to visit a friend." _

_ Angeline sighed. "Very well, one week", she granted. She still looked worried._

_ "Don't worry, Mother", Artemis assured her. "I'll be right under your feet the whole time."_

_ "Are you leaving now?"_

_ "Yes." Artemis gave his mother a hug. "I'll see you next week."_

_ "Be safe, Artemis."_

**Chapter Two**

**Operations Booth, Police Plaza**

Foaly swiveled himself on his specially-made, rotating centaur chair. "Well?" he asked.

"She took it all right", Trouble answered. "She told me she'd be back in a week in top form."

"That's good to hear", said Foaly. "Frond knows how long she's been in that depression. I was starting to think she would never come out."

"Have you even spoken to her since…well…" Trouble left it hanging.

"Since the hydro-bomb killed Artemis?" Foaly finished. "A few times, yes. Painful conversations. She wasn't herself. I haven't seen her in over a month."

Trouble nodded. Artemis's demise had been hard on Foaly, too, but the centaur was affected even worse by Holly's subsequent depression. No one who knew her wanted to see Holly like that, much less interact with her.

"Should I inform Butler, then?" Foaly asked.

"No", said Trouble. "I think Holly will do that herself. She said she needed closure, and telling Butler will be just what she needs to let go."

"Hmm", said Foaly as he turned back to the computers.

"Foaly", Trouble said presently, breaking the minute-long silence.

"Yes, Commander?" Foaly responded. Trouble was using his 'official' voice.

"What can you tell me about Holly and Artemis's relationship?"

Foaly looked surprised. This was a personal question he didn't expect to be asked when Trouble was using the tone he was speaking in now.

"They were…close…" Foaly said cautiously.

"How close?" Trouble asked.

"You can't measure closeness, Trouble", Foaly pointed out. "Holly and Artemis were good friends, and they cared a lot for each other, but I doubt it advanced any further than friendship, if that's what you're asking." He tacked on that last bit, putting a fine point on it, if you get my meaning.

"Hmph." Foaly wasn't fooled by Trouble's monosyllabic grunt. "That's a long way from being enemies."

"That's not fair, Trouble", said Foaly. "Artemis changed. Contact with the People changed him for the better."

"I know." Trouble glanced outside the one-way window in the Operations Booth. "We owe Haven City to him."

"Not to mention our lives", Foaly added, a tad bit more serious that he might ordinarily have been.

"Yeah. That too."

_**~AF~**_

**Fowl Manor, Dublin**

Holly entered the beautiful house via the study window. Even though Artemis was dead, she was still welcome in Fowl Manor, as she still had friends there. Also, she had never been uninvited. It was still an open invitation.

Thanks to Foaly's new and improved wing design of the SkyCraft 200, flying was completely silent. Therefore, Holly felt reasonably safe hovering, still shielded, over Artemis's untouched desk, which was exactly how he left it six months ago. Holly suddenly had to swallow an unexpected lump.

_Artemis, _she said inaudibly. Then she straightened and gently breezed through the house until she found Butler.

The mountain of a bodyguard was sleeping – not very peacefully, it must be admitted – on a bed that had been custom-made so that it was large enough to fit him. Holly paused as she wondered how to wake him without getting strangled.

She settled for gently pushing against his ribs, while blanketing his mind with a light layer of the _mesmer _to assure him that it was safe. She winced as she felt the drain even that small amount of magic took. She would have to complete the Ritual soon. Was it full moon today? She checked the window. Yes, it was. So that was another thing she would have to do tonight.

Butler was a light sleeper, so it only took a few seconds for him to bolt upright under Holly's gentle probing. But thanks to the _mesmer,_ he did not raise an arm to defend himself against attack. Holly shimmered into view in front of him.

"Holly?" the manservant whispered in surprised disbelief. Holly was relieved that he had the presence of mind not to shout her name to the whole household.

"Butler. How are you?"

"Holly, where have you been?" Butler demanded, keeping his voice low. "Where's Artemis? Is he in Haven? What's been going on?"

Holly raised her hands, motioning for Butler to stop. The bodyguard fell silent, one eyebrow raised in waiting.

Holly rubbed her temples, trying to phrase the words in her head. This was not going to be easy to say.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, Butler, but I was hoping so much that…" She stopped. Butler kindly did not interrupt and waited for her to continue, even while a feeling of dismay bubbled in his gut.

"Artemis isn't in Haven, Butler", Holly told him, maintaining her composure.

"Then where is he?" Butler couldn't restrain himself. "Have you any idea how worried we've all been? Even Myles and Beckett aren't so cheery anymore."

"Artemis is dead, Butler", Holly said flatly, forcing the words out. "There was trouble in Haven while he was there, and he stayed behind to help. There was a bomb, and he…" She gulped and swallowed. 'I couldn't do anything, Butler, I'm sorry. We didn't find a body, so I thought maybe he survived. But it's been six months, and there's no sign of him." Holly heaved deep breaths to calm herself down.

Butler stood stock still, absorbing the news with a stoic face that revealed nothing of his inner turmoil. _Artemis, dead? No, it can't be true. But it's been six months, and Holly said…_ Here he stopped, unable to go on.

It was true. His charge was dead, killed by a fairy bomb in Haven City. Butler had seen enough of fairy technology to know that if a fairy wanted someone dead, that person stayed dead.

"I'm so sorry, Butler", Holly said.

When Butler finally spoke, his voice was heavy with grief and somehow not his own.

"Thank you for telling me, Holly."

"You're welcome, Butler", Holly said sadly before flying out the window.

* * *

_**A/N: Sigh. Sad scene. Really sad. I suppose it comes with the territory. Killing Artemis was bound to have consequences. Anyway, thanks to **dimka-roza-belikova, greenluvr14, Beckett Simpleton, **and **Valerie3 **for reviewing!**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_Artemis Fowl**.**__**  
**_


	4. Chapter Three

**_September 23, E1_**

_"Why didn't you ask Butler to come along?" Holly asked curiously._

_ Artemis smiled. "Because, Holly", he replied, "This is a visit between the two of us, and while Butler is a great friend, three's a crowd."_

_ Holly arched her eyebrow. "'A visit between the two of us'? Is that what this is?"_

_ "Definitely, Holly", smiled Artemis, his eyes warm. "Definitely."_

**Chapter Three **

**8th Boulevard, New York City**

ARTEMIS FOWL DEAD

_The Artemis Fowl case has come to a shocking conclusion. Late last night, Officer Ryan McGuiness, the chief investigator of the young Fowl's disappearance, declared in a press conference that they were no longer investigating, at the request of Angeline and Artemis Fowl Senior. The reason cited for halting the investigation was that the Fowls had been informed by an unknown source that their son is dead. Artemis Senior stated that they no longer wished to continue looking because it would be too painful._

_So it is that the Artemis Fowl case is declared closed. Closed, but not ended. There are still dozens of questions that remain unanswered. Is Artemis Fowl II really dead? It would seem so, but if that's the case, where's the body? Who or what is the Fowls' source of information and how can they trust it so implicitly without proof? Who is the mysterious female who was the last person seen with Artemis and what has become of her?_

_The public is clamouring for answers, unsatisfied by the sudden and abrupt end of the investigation. The detectives and the Fowls may consider the case closed, but it is this writer's opinion that it is far from over. We will likely be hearing a lot more about Artemis Fowl II, whether he is dead or not._

The dwarf-sized patron at the table in the far corner of the coffee shop scowled. _Fowl's dead? _"D'Arvit", he muttered. A waitress who was passing by overheard him.

"Did you say something?" she inquired politely.

"Just swearing to myself, Miss", answered the person. He folded up his newspaper. "Shocking business, that Artemis Fowl affair."

"Oh, yes", the waitress agreed. "Poor boy, only sixteen – missing and presumed dead. Mind you, he has an Interpol file – he was quite the criminal when he was younger – so I'm sure he must have a lot of enemies. I expect one of them probably got his revenge." She sighed theatrically. "Still, I'm sorry for his parents – it's a terrible thing to lose a child. And Artemis was their heir, too." She clucked sympathetically. "It's a good thing they've got other children to carry on the Fowl legacy. I imagine Myles will inherit the estate, him being the older twin and all."

"Artemis has siblings?" the figure asked in surprise. "I hadn't heard that."

"Haven't you?" said the waitress. "He has two brothers, twins by the names of Myles and Beckett. Myles is the elder." She looked down and noticed her customer's empty coffee cup. "Would you like a refill, Mister…"

"Rothwell", he answered quickly. "James Rothwell. And no, thank you – I was just about to leave." He handed her a five-dollar bill.

"Be careful on the streets, Mr. Rothwell", the waitress advised as she counted out his change. "A man of your stature could be easily overlooked."

"An unfortunate thyroid condition", Rothwell responded. "This is as tall as I'll ever grow. At least I can be thankful all the other parts of my body function properly."

"Count your blessings", the waitress agreed. "You have a nice day."

"Will do, Miss", said Rothwell, tipping his hat at her, careful not to expose his ears.

* * *

_**A/N: Anybody wondering who the short person aboveground is? (wink)**_

_**I've been getting a lot of reviewers complaining because Artemis is dead. Trust me on this, okay - he died for a good reason. Promise. **Carlie, **don't worry. You will find out why and how Artemis died. That story will be told through the flashbacks at the beginning of each chapter. So you'll actually be reading two stories - the one that's happening now, and the one that happened six months ago. Cool, huh? A big thank you to my lovely reviewers **dimka-roza-belikova, ElfinEragon, Carlie, **and **ZeZe123. **You guys are great!**_

__**Disclaimer: **_Artemis Fowl _**belongs to Eoin Colfer.  
**


	5. Chapter Four

**_September 23, Operations Booth, Police Plaza_**

_ "You understand how this is going to work, Mud Boy?"_

_ Artemis nodded. "Perfectly, Foaly. I'm to stay in Holly's apartment where she can keep an eye on me, and while I'm allowed to wander around Haven, I must not cause any trouble."_

_ "Right", said Foaly. "And you'd better be on your best behaviour. We had to go through a lot of red tape to get you even a week-long visa. I only bothered because Holly thought you were worth it. So behave, or it'll be Holly's and my necks on the line. The Council's annoyed enough as it is."_

_ "I understand, Foaly", Artemis assured him._

_ "Good", grunted the centaur. Then he grinned. "You should be honoured, Mud Boy. You're the first human in centuries to have a visa for Haven."_

**Chapter Four**

**Ops Booth**

"My dear Commander..." began Foaly with great aplomb.

"Stop right there", Trouble said forcefully. "I don't need to hear all the technicalities in overblown language. All I asked was for you to tell me what you found. So please restrict your explanation to just that."

"You take the fun out of everything", Foaly pouted. "All right, fine."

But before he could launch into a detailed exposition of his findings, a sharp beep signaled that someone was at the door.

"By the gods – Holly!" Foaly exclaimed as the titanium doors slid open. Since his latest upgrade, Foaly had given an entry chip to his booth to the select few people he trusted with his life. Besides himself, only Holly, Trouble, and Caballine could enter the Ops Booth at will.

"How's it going, Foaly?" Holly asked with a twinkle in her eye that had been missing for too long. "Morning, Commander", she said to Trouble. "Major Holly Short reporting for duty."

Trouble blinked away a surprised look. "Holly. That was fast. I only visited you three days ago."

"I got restless", Holly responded. "It'll take a few more weeks for me to get back in top form, but I'm back."

"So you're over the, ah…_incident_…last year?" Foaly asked cautiously.

Holly winced, as did Trouble. They both knew the sting of Artemis's death would never really go away.

"I've recovered enough", Holly replied. "What have we got? Trouble said there was…well, trouble."

"Right, well…" Foaly shot Trouble a disapproving look. "As I was just explaining to the commander here, I pulled some files from the LEP archives and matched the data with footage from the security tapes in downtown Haven."

"Wait, wait, wait", Holly interrupted. "Back up. What's been happening in Haven?"

"Oh, sorry, Holly, I forgot you wouldn't know", apologised Foaly. "Well, to put it simply, people have been disappearing."

"Disappearing?" Holly repeated with a frown.

"Yep", Foaly said, pulling a file from one of the plasma-screen computers. "Twenty-five fairies in the past four months."

"Any particular species?" Holly inquired.

"No. Any and all. Eight elves, five gnomes, three goblins, six dwarfs, two pixies, and even a sprite. The only species which hasn't lost a member is the centaurs, and that's just because there are so few of us left we take extra precautionary measures." Foaly tapped his tinfoil hat to emphasize his point.

"Odd", remarked Holly. "Why would anyone kidnap such a variety of fairies?"

"Research?" Trouble suggested. Holly winced again at the subtle reminder of Artemis.

"Impossible", she declared flatly. "Artemis was the only one who was smart enough to discover our existence, and he had the highest tested IQ in Europe."

"Artemis was not necessarily the smartest person in the world", Foaly said testily. "Or under it, for that matter."

"Are you suggesting the person behind this is a fairy?" Trouble asked.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. However much a human knows about us, they would never know exactly how to cover up their tracks so well that I couldn't find them. I can't get _anything_ on the missing fairies. No traces, no DNA, no hints, no evidence. Nothing."

Holly felt herself go cold. "It's not…it isn't…gods, it can't be…Foaly, it can't be the same fairy who set that bomb, could it?"

Foaly exchanged an alarmed look with Trouble, who said gently, "Holly, I know you want to find the person who killed Artemis, but we can't jump the gun just because there are similarities."

"Similarities?" echoed Holly. "You bet there are similarities. No hints, no evidence? Trouble, we didn't even see that bomb until twenty minutes before it exploded. And we _still _have no idea who did it."

Trouble looked uncomfortable. Those same thoughts had occurred to him as well, and he had no logical reason not to look into the possibility. He just didn't want Holly to get obsessive. "You're right, Holly", he relented. "But please, don't get…carried away."

Holly did something totally unexpected then. She winked at him. "I promise I won't go crazy on you. And I'll do my best to work this objectively. But I do want to find this villain."

Trouble stared, and Holly noticed. She sighed.

"I'm not over it, Trouble. Not by far. But I swear I'm myself again. I just can't guarantee I'll restrain myself when we finally get to the bomber."

"Completely understandable", Foaly agreed. "I never thought I'd say this, but I miss the Mud Boy too." His eyes seemed to spark with something unfathomable. "We could use his brains to figure out what's going on."

Trouble felt rather left out. Of the three people in the booth, he was the only one who did not know Artemis personally, and he didn't know what to say to the two who had. He solved this dilemma by switching to commander mode.

"Foaly, what can you do to trace something untraceable?"

Foaly looked exasperated. "Normally I would say nothing is untraceable for me, but I thought I made it clear…"

"Bio-degrading scanner", Holly suggested suddenly. "It might work."

"Now there's something I never even considered", Foaly mused. "Those scanners haven't been in use for over a century – not with all the available modern tracking equipment around."

"Modern tracking equipment isn't working", Trouble pointed out. "Holly's got the right idea. If this fairy's been cleaning up to avoid detection on computers, maybe he or she forgot about cleaning up to avoid older technology. There's no such thing as a perfect crime."

"The problem with that is that most of the bio-degrading scanners have long since been recycled, and the ones that are left haven't been in use for so long, they probably wouldn't work", said Foaly.

"I'm sure you could fix them, Foaly", Holly said confidently. "After all, you were the one who patented them in the first place."

"As well as every other major technological advance for the past hundred years", Foaly reminded her smugly. "Let's not forget that."

Holly rolled her eyes. "Of course not."

"I don't need to hear how smart you are, Foaly", Trouble said. "All I need to know is if you can fix the scanners. Would they work?"

"They might", Foaly admitted. "I'll patch them up and we'll see."

"Good. Work fast. Something tells me we don't have a lot of time."

* * *

_**A/N: Oo-ooh! Crisis! Crisis! But when is there not? You know, I've noticed something. Everyone's been so concentrated on the short guy aboveground (whose identity remains a mystery until Chapter 5 - that's tomorrow!) and the fact that Artemis's dead that not much thought has been spared for the current evil plot in Haven. Well, I think this little baby has brought it to the forefront now, don't you? Thanks to **dimka-roza-belikova, ghostsaliensteletubbiesohmy, **and **ZeZe123 **for reviewing!**_

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and the bio-degrading scanners, but not **_Artemis Fowl _**itself.**_**  
**_


	6. Chapter Five

_**A/N: WARNING! Major plot twist below, one of the most AU things I have ever done. Don't say I didn't warn you.**_

_**

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**_**_September 24, Holly's Apartment_**

_ Artemis awoke to the smell of something fruity. He quickly dressed and made his way to the kitchen, where Holly was frying pancakes on the stove._

_ "Morning, Mud Boy", she said cheerily. "Sleep well?"_

_ "Yes, thank you." Artemis came over to the stove. "That smells good."_

_ Holly waved her spatula. "Fried apple-and-blueberry pancakes. My mother's recipe." She dished out two pancakes for each of them and motioned for Artemis to sit at the small breakfast table._

_ "So, Artemis", she said once they were seated, "I took most of the week off in preparation for your visit, but I have some paperwork to finish. Think you can stay out of trouble for a couple of hours?"_

_ "Assuredly so, Holly. I have no intention to cause trouble; therefore, it will not happen. I think I shall simply explore Haven."_

_ "Don't get lost." Holly ate her pancakes quickly, then hopped up and rinsed her plate. "I have to go", she said. "See you in a bit." With that, she skipped out the door._

**Chapter Five**

**Central Park, New York City**

James Rothwell held his cigar over the ashtray set into the top of the garbage can. After giving the rolled tobacco a gentle tap to dislodge the ashes, he raised it to his lips and puffed on it, deep in thought.

Rothwell was not usually a man given to smoking. Generally, he only smoked when he had something big to think about and if the cigar was of good quality. At this moment, the first prerequisite was certainly fulfilled, and as for the second – well, the cigar wasn't the best, but it was decent. And right now, Rothwell really felt like a smoke while he was thinking.

_Fowl is dead. _Rothwell inhaled another breath on the cigar. _I bet anything his death had to do with a crisis in Haven. And it probably involved Holly too. _Another puff. _But before any of that, Artemis became a big brother. _A third puff, this one leading his thoughts into a completely new direction. _Three unaccounted years? _Rothwell scowled. _By the gods, just how long have I been gone? Stupid time tunnel, _he cursed. _How the blazes am I supposed to get things sorted out if I can't even get myself sorted?_

Rothwell thought back to the incident that had occurred nearly six years ago, yet was only one month past for him. He'd been shot through the time portal, traveling through limbo for what seemed like an age before it finally spat him out, confused, disoriented – not to mention injured – in this very same park. Fortunately, he'd arrived in the middle of the night, and by the time people started walking past his landing site, he'd regained enough sense to hide.

Within hours, and after some painful trekking, he had located an oak tree by a bend in the Hudson River. He'd completed the Ritual, replenishing his magic (for of course he was a fairy) and healing his cracked ribs. Then he'd scrounged up a newspaper to find that the date was February 28, 2010. He had bypassed six years.

Some instinct within him warned him not to go back to Haven immediately, so he'd fiddled with an Automatic Teller Machine to get money. Normally, Rothwell was against stealing, but desperate times call for desperate measures. He'd taken enough from the ATM to give him a start in a human life, so after purchasing a hat, a pair of sunglasses, and a set of clothes, he began masquerading as a Mud Man with dwarfism.

For over a month now Rothwell had been living as a human, renting a cheap room over a photocopying shop and doing odd jobs to earn money, all the while trying to find out what was going on in Haven, hundreds of miles beneath his feet. The news reports on the Artemis Fowl case were the closest he'd gotten to the fairy world.

Now, he realised, something big was happening underground. It was time for him to return to his home. If what he deduced from the Artemis Fowl case was true – that there was a dangerous conspiracy going on below – Holly would likely need his help. After all, he'd had experience in these types of situations before, especially those involving Artemis Fowl II.

For of course James Rothwell was in fact Julius Root, ex-Commander of LEPrecon, who had miraculously escaped death at the hands of Opal Koboi six years prior by falling into a time portal.

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_**A/N: ! Well? Did I shock you? A few readers have been offering guesses, but none got close. Yet, if you had been paying attention, you might have seen it. The prologue alone was enough to let you know that the guy was a fairy, and not many people call Artemis by only his last name. And the name James Rothwell starts with the beginning letters of Julius Root. Anyways, I admit that I have been dying to get to this part and stun you all =) Thanks to **dimka-roza-belikova, ghostsaliensteletubbiesohmy, Beckett Simpleton, Yoshichao, **and **RideForeverO.o **for reviewing!**_

**Disclaimer: Well, I'm no rich Irish author...  
**


	7. Chapter Six

**_September 26, Downtown Haven_**

_"I must say, this is very nice, Holly", Artemis said as they strolled through the city. "It's quite refreshing not to have some crisis on our hands that prevents us from spending time with each other, as friends."_

_ Holly smiled in agreement. "Well, then, Mud Boy", she said as she playfully punched his arm (she couldn't reach his shoulder), "as friends, I'm allowed to do that." Then her eyes widened. "Have you been working out?" she accused._

_ Artemis coughed, tingeing slightly pink. "Well…I swore after we rescued my father that I would spend time in the gym, but I did not have the opportunity to exercise in earnest until after my Atlantis Complex was cured." His eyes twinkled. "Perhaps the next time we have to save the world, I won't fall flat on my face."_

_ Holly's bell-like peals of laughter were joined by Artemis's, and Holly was startled to realise that, in all the years she had known him, this was the first time she had heard Artemis Fowl laugh._

**Chapter Six**

**Ops Booth, Two Weeks After Chapter Five**

Holly held her chip against the scanner at the entrance to the booth and entered when a beep signaled her acceptance. The doors slid open silently and Foaly jumped as he saw her.

"D'Arvit, Holly!" he exclaimed. "I'm not going to let you keep your entry chip if you insist on sneaking up on me."

Holly ignored this comment, peering instead at the many computer screens in the booth. For the past two weeks she had been coming in everyday around this time to check on Foaly's progress. The centaur had succeeded in revamping two bio-degrading scanners, and the LEP had been using them to inspect the suspected kidnapping areas around Haven for the past six days. The fact that Foaly was too engrossed to notice her arrival today meant that they finally had something worth looking into.

Foaly grunted as he followed Holly's gaze to his computers. "Perceptive, aren't you?"

"What do we have?" asked Holly.

"First off, let it be said that I, Foaly, once again have managed to do the impossible", announced the centaur, trotting over to one monitor. He began opening windows on the screen to show Holly what Corporal Grub Kelp had managed to find at the home of pixie Lorianne Herbert.

"Look here", he said. "Unusually high readings of copper, potassium, and also sodium chloride, better known as salt. When you put copper, potassium, and salt together, what do you get?"

Holly shrugged her shoulders, clueless.

"Copper potassium cyanide with ionized chloride", Foaly answered his own question. "Used in gold and silver mining industries or as poison."

"The missing fairies were poisoned?" Holly gaped.

"I don't think so", said Foaly. "A couple of months ago, I initiated a sampling vitality registration for all citizens of Haven – a test case, so to speak."

"Vitality registration?" Holly questioned.

"V-R. Something I came up with last year", replied Foaly. "Such a system would allow us to read the vital signs of whoever is registered on the V-R computer. Useful for detecting dormant medical conditions or for avoiding ignorance of someone's death. Do you remember the Jabrice case?"

"The loner whom no one knew had died?"

"Yes, that one. I haven't smelled anything so foul. Vitality registration would help avoid that. Of course, V-R is still experimental, and I'm not sure the Council would approve something like that on a citywide scale – also, I doubt everyone would be willing to hook themselves up to what would basically be an electronic IV…"

"Your point?" Holly asked to get him back on track. Once Foaly got started on one of his inventions, he could go on for hours.

"Right, well…" Foaly cleared his throat. "Lorianne Herbert is one of the fairies who volunteered to be a test case for V-R. The program's still primitive, but it can tell me who's alive and who's not. And Herbert is most definitely alive. I looked up her vital signs not one hour ago."

"You're making no sense, Foaly", complained Holly. "If Herbert's alive and the cyanide's not being used to poison anybody, what's the significance of it?"

"Simple. I said cyanide was used in gold and silver mining industries. Lorianne Herbert is a technical consultant – nothing even remotely mine-related."

"So the cyanide must have been left by whoever is behind this all", Holly surmised. "And he or she works in a mine? That points to the dwarfs."

"Not necessarily", Foaly disagreed. "Dwarfs hate cyanide. They absolutely hate it. They refuse to handle any metal which has even merely touched cyanide, and they never tunnel in mines where cyanide has been used."

"Yes. And?" prompted Holly when he paused. "Get on with it, Foaly, I don't have all day."

"Well, since dwarfs don't allow cyanide in their mines, it limits the field to the mines that are run by other species, which _do _use cyanide."

"There aren't very many of those, are there?"

"About ten to fifteen fairy-managed ones in the entire underground", Foaly confirmed. "And only six in or near Haven." He typed something into the computer. "I did some digging to see who might have a motive to do all this – kidnap fairies, or even set the bomb last year, and cross-referenced them with people who work in the mines. The dwarfs, of course, are ruled out, centaurs and sprites don't work in mines, and goblins are too stupid. That leaves elves, gnomes, and the occasional pixie." He snatched a print-out from the printer and handed it to Holly.

"I checked Opal Koboi's cell", he continued. "She's restless, but she's definitely not free, nor is it a clone. I made sure of that. It might be the Opal from the past who's still running large, but I can't see any Opal Koboi working in mines or even getting her hands on cyanide – at least not this particular variety. After a bit of work, I narrowed the suspect list down to six." He tapped the sheet in Holly's hand.

"Brill and Mervall Descant", Holly read from the paper. "The pixie twins?"

"They were sentenced to work in the mines after their involvement with Opal's plot", Foaly answered. "Keep going."

"Perry Underwood."

"An egoistic, power-hungry elf who's the head executive of one of the major non-dwarf mining companies."

"Sloan DiRubic."

"An ex-convict with a history of kidnapping and smuggling some very illegal contraband."

"Yolande McGregor."

"Now there's an odd one", mused Foaly. "Squeaky-clean record, not a single offense with the law – but her colleagues are complaining that she's been acting strange lately. Obsessed with numbers, dark humour, insatiable interest in everyone's lives – might be the beginnings of an Atlantis Complex or some other psychosis – or maybe she's just tired of being good."

"Do you mind?" Holly asked acidly. "All these bios are written right here on the page. I don't need you keeping up a steady commentary."

Foaly clamped his mouth shut as Holly read the last name. This time she looked at Foaly for confirmation herself.

"Ark Sool?" she queried.

Foaly smiled smugly. "I pulled some info off a few databases. Sool's quite bitter over his demotion – from Commander to Private, you know – and it turns out he was willing to get a little payback at the LEP. I found some very cleverly worded messages in a couple of human webpages advertising his services for anyone who wants to have a shot at causing trouble underground. Remember the _Sozzled Parrot_?"

"That above-ground dwarf bar that got crushed under our escape pod the year before last?"

"Uh-huh. I talked to the bartender, Barnet Riddle, and he says that Sool became a pretty regular customer. I checked with Mulch to confirm."

At this Holly slapped her forehead. "Mulch!" she exclaimed. "I completely forgot about him. I haven't seen him since last year. How's he doing?"

"Well, he's not going to be very happy that you forgot him", Foaly observed. "But other than that, he's doing okay. He's still with Doodah Day in that P.I. firm you started up. They're doing a roaring business catching petty offenders and small-time criminals the LEP has no time for. They've even expanded the employee list to ten, excluding themselves. For a couple of weeks after the bombing, Mulch popped by everyday to see how you were doing." Foaly stopped. "Oh, that reminds me", he said, clacking away at a different keyboard, "He wanted me to tell him when you were yourself again."

"Mulch Diggums, co-founder of _Short and Diggums_", answered Mulch's image on the monitor. Holly came over to the screen to talk to him.

"I see you still haven't changed the firm name."

"Holly!" Mulch exclaimed. "Welcome back. No, we haven't changed the name – probably never will. Doodah wanted to do it, of course, but we both agreed eventually that it'd started with you, so your name stays. Foaly, did you know your hat's getting crooked?"

"It is not!" Foaly insisted, reaching up a hand to check the foil anyway.

"Gotcha." Mulch laughed.

"Oh, sure, very funny, Mulch", said Foaly sourly. "Hilarious."

Holly laughed along with them, for what was probably the first time since Artemis's death.

"Anyway, Foaly", said Mulch when the laughter had subsided, "How's that case of yours coming?"

Foaly sobered. "We've got six suspects thanks to the information I dug up. Perry Underwood…"

"I know her", said Mulch. "I broke into her office once. I don't think she's doing all this, but you should keep an eye on her. She's got the potential to turn into another Opal Koboi."

"Noted", agreed Foaly. "We've also got Sloan DiRubic, Yolande McGregor, the Descant twins – oh, and Ark Sool."

Mulch frowned. "Not Sloan", he said. "I spent some time sharing a jail cell with him. He doesn't have the finesse to plan something like this. And the Descant twins are the type who are all talk and no action - at least not without Opal Koboi. I stop by their mine from time to time, and believe me, they're in no way responsible for this." He turned his head to look at something behind him. "Whoops – I've got to go. We're tracking one of Doodah's ex-accomplices. Good luck on your case." He vanished from the screen.

"That was helpful", commented Holly. "Mulch's helped us narrow the suspect list down to two: Yolande and Sool."

"Yep", agreed Foaly. "Sometimes it's useful to have someone on our side who used to be a criminal. They've got all the underground connections." He tapped something into yet another computer. "You should let Trouble know what we found out."

"Right", said Holly. "Good job, Foaly."

Foaly smirked. "Thank you. What would you do without me?"

Holly punched him.

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_**A/N: Most of you were not expecting the Root twist. Some were hoping James Rothwell would turn out to be Artemis. Sorry to disappoint you, readers, but again, I have a good reason. Thanks to **dimka-roza-belikova, Magiske-Fingrer, Leon, **and **Valerie3 **for reviewing!**_

**Disclaimer: Goodness, no.**_**  
**_


	8. Chapter Seven

**_September 29, Holly's Apartment_**

_The communicator beeped. Holly looked puzzled, but she answered it, deactivating the speaker feature._

_"Yes, Foaly?" she asked. "What?" Holly bit her lip, her brow creasing. "Okay, tell Trouble I'll be right there." She terminated the call, looking worried._

_"What's the matter, Holly?" Artemis inquired._

_"I'll have to cut my vacation short", Holly replied somewhat tersely as she pulled her LEP uniform over her clothes. "There's trouble down at Police Plaza. Some sort of hostage situation. It's serious." She grabbed her Neutrino and put on her helmet._

_"Anything I can help with?" Artemis asked._

_"Don't think so", Holly answered. "It's a red-flag situation. Someone _mesmerized_ another fairy."_

_"Is that bad?"_

_"It's illegal. Forbidden by the Book." Holly paused on her way to the door. "I'll see you when I get back."_

__**Chapter Seven**

**Somewhere in Haven**

Former Commander Ark Sool gazed at one of the many computer screens that were mounted on the walls, smiling slightly in satisfaction as he saw the readings on the monitor. His plan was working.

Since his demotion to Private following his infamous memo statement (which, in simple terms, declared that he was willing to let the eighth fairy family of demons die out for the good of the entire fairy race) four years ago, Sool had been trying to regain his position as LEPrecon commander, the highlight of his four-hundred-year life. It wasn't working.

Sool frowned in disgust as he remembered why it wasn't working. Trouble Kelp was a popular and able commander, and no one saw the need to replace him with a disgraced gnome. Kelp and that infuriating Holly Short – major, it seems! – were the main reason all of Sool's schemes to get reinstated had fallen through. Sool had thought he might be able regain some of his former glory when he aided Turnball Root's escape, but no – that had backfired too, thanks once again to Holly Short and her human allies. Huh! Mud Men. Sool sniffed. If it were up to him, all humans who knew of their existence would be mind-wiped. Human allies were greedy and unreliable, and he had said as much in a public speech that had garnered much support during his short stint as commander.

But for all his championing of the fairy cause, for all his hard work as an LEP officer, he, Sool, had been unable to advance beyond his demotion. He'd been trying and failing for the past four years, and he had had enough.

Months of bitterness and failed plots led to him placing a hydro-bomb in LEP Headquarters. He was determined to be reinstated, not just as Commander of LEPrecon, but also as the leader of all fairykind – by force if necessary. He reasoned that if Haven was destroyed, he could travel to Atlantis and claim that the Council's last act had been to declare him Governor of the fairies. With nobody to refute his statement and some cleverly forged documents, no one would be the wiser, and he would be the ruler of the last fairy stronghold in the world.

But even that plan had been foiled when Artemis managed to concentrate the blast in one area – albeit at the cost of his own life. Sool grated his teeth, remembering how Foaly had run the message that Haven was safe on all tele-news screens throughout the city. Infernal centaur!

Sool had decided, after that failure, that his next plot would have to be very carefully planned, so that nothing would go wrong. And it had been. For weeks now, he had been abducting different fairies, using his knowledge of LEP procedures to clean up after himself. Ignoring the Book (after all, if he was breaking laws, what was one more?), he spent large amounts of time _mesmerizing _the kidnapped citizens, forcing them to bend their wills to his. After four months, he had enough fairies subservient to him to incite a rebellion against the Council. And now that that interfering, too-smart Mud Boy Artemis Fowl was out of the way, no one would be able to figure it out until it was too late.

But before he set his minions loose, there was one more thing to take care of. Three people he needed to cross off his hit-list. Trouble Kelp, Holly Short, and Foaly. The only three fairies who had an outside chance of cracking the case. Just to be safe, he would kill them, securing his rise to power.

He opened a communication channel with one of his _mesmerized _fairies, barked a short order, then settled back in his chair. Before two days were out, Trouble, Holly, and Foaly would all be dead, thus removing his last obstacle to his ambition.

_Life is good, _thought Sool for the first time in four years.

* * *

_**A/N: Okay, I'm in a hurry, so sorry if I can't thank my reviewers individually. But thank you all! Your feedback is much appreciated!**_

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own **_Artemis Fowl._


	9. Chapter Eight

_**A/N: WARNING! Another major plot twist down below. This one I think you'll like.**_

_**

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**_**_September 30, Ops Booth_**

_ Foaly startled when he saw Artemis at the door, requesting entry. "What is it, Mud Boy?" he asked as he let him in._

_ "Artemis", said Holly. "What are you doing here?"_

_ Artemis coolly observed the room, sensing the atmosphere. "I take it things have taken a turn for the worse", he said. "What happened last night?"_

_ "That's classified information", Trouble said gruffly. "None of your business."_

_ "The _mesmerized _fairy was LEP Lieutenant Hallie Fern", Holly said, ignoring Trouble's scandalised expression. "Someone convinced her to hold Grub Kelp hostage."_

_ "Your brother?" Artemis asked Trouble._

_ Trouble sighed in defeat. "Yes. Gave him quite a scare."_

_ "So he's all right", Artemis concluded._

_ "Yes, but now we've got a bigger problem on our hands", said Holly. "We managed to break the _mesmer_ on Fern, but before we did, she said something about a dormant hydro-bomb planted somewhere in Haven. We don't know where it is, and if Fern's right, it's going to be activated in two days."_

_ "A hydro-bomb?" questioned Artemis._

_ "The fairy equivalent of an atom bomb", Foaly supplied. "Capable of wiping out an entire city. Powered by hydro-nitrate fusion. Deadly. Very deadly."_

_ "And you have no idea where it is?"_

_ "No", Holly answered, frustrated. "It's a catastrophe waiting to happen. If Haven is destroyed, half the remaining fairy population dies with it. Two days is not enough time to evacuate to Atlantis."_

_ "I'm certain that between the four of us, we could find the most probable location of the bomb and avert the disaster", said Artemis._

_ "Who said you're helping us do anything, Mud Boy?" asked Trouble._

_ "Artemis, your family's expecting you home today", said Holly worriedly. "And if you're here when the bomb goes off, you die too."_

_ "I'll do my best to ensure that doesn't happen. And I'll contact my parents to let them know I'll be home late." Artemis already had his phone in his hand. "Don't worry, Holly, we'll find it."_

_ "I hope so", muttered Holly._

**Chapter Eight**

**Tara, Ireland**

Julius Root allowed himself a tiny smile as he stepped into the boundary of the most magical place on earth. All fairies felt most connected to their magic in Tara, and Root was no exception. The strong mystic forces were flowing into his veins, making him feel better than he had for some time.

The flight to Dublin had been uneventful, for which Root was grateful. He had a feeling that once he stepped foot in Haven, he was going to wish for the boring days of human life, because first of all, no one reacts particularly well when someone comes back from the dead, and secondly, who knows what sort of trouble was going on right now.

Root traveled on foot to the McGraney farm, heading for E1. He marveled at the beauty of the landscape, taking extra time to appreciate the serenity. Once he disappeared down the chute, peace would be a rarity.

Root's peacefulness, however, was suddenly and violently brought to an end sooner than he expected when, at the oak tree where Artemis and Holly had first met so many years ago, a sudden mini-tornado brought him to his knees.

"What the –" Root exclaimed as he fought to stand. Through watering eyes, he saw a swirling portal appear at the point where the buffeting winds were the most concentrated. Due to the roaring gale, Root almost missed seeing a figure fall out of what he now recognized as a time tunnel. Almost immediately after depositing its passenger, the portal disappeared, and the air calmed.

Root pulled himself to his feet and made his way over to the time traveler. And when he did reach the figure, he almost fell down again. Because there, lying on the grass in Tara, lay the last person Root thought he would see.

"D'Arvit!" he swore in shock. "Fowl!"

"Julius?" The boy blinked, confused. He sat up slowly and observed his surroundings, then glanced critically at Root.

"I see", he said, sounding just as Artemis-like as the last time Root had seen him. "The concentrated power of the hydro-bomb must have been violent enough to rip a hole through time, landing me in the past rather than killing me, as I thought it would. Hello, Julius. Good to see you again."

"Don't call me Julius", Root said automatically. "What are you doing here, Fowl? Everyone thinks you're dead."

Artemis frowned. "Dead? No, I'm very much alive, thank you."

Root cast his gaze skyward, somehow still managing to be sarcastic. "Gods above, the boy's wits have been scrambled! Snap out of it, Fowl", he ordered, knocking Artemis on the head.

"I'll thank you not to cause me physical harm", said Artemis, offended. "I must have landed in a time when we were still unfriendly to each other", he mused.

"Listen to me, Fowl", commanded Root. "You are not in the past. You have landed six months after your supposed death. The date is April 3, 2010. This is the future."

"April 3?" Artemis's eyes widened. "I've missed six months!" Then he seemed to reconsider that statement. "Better than three years", he said to himself.

"What are you talking about, Fowl?" Root asked irritably. "And while you're at it, maybe you can explain to me just what the blazes is going on underground."

"What I'm most curious about", said Artemis, ignoring Root's question, "is how you came to be here. If I am in the future, then you must be a past version of Julius Root…unless, unlike what everyone thinks, you didn't die in that explosion six years ago."

"You finally got it", grumbled Root. "I'm guessing the same thing that happened to me happened to you. Somehow we both got very lucky and were sent through time rather than being killed."

"Interesting…It would appear that highly concentrated quantities nuclear power create tears in the fabric of time."

"Stop with the genius thing, Fowl, and tell me what's happening in Haven."

Artemis sighed. "I assure you, Commander, I have no clue. If, as you say, I have been gone for six months, then whatever is occurring underground now is not in any way related to me."

Root stared at Artemis. "You're wrong about that Fowl", he said in a calmly controlled voice. "You might have been gone, but whatever's happening is most definitely connected to you in some way. And it's big. I can feel it."

"Feelings do not constitute actual facts", Artemis disagreed. "If you have been out of contact with the fairy world – which I suspect is the case, as you are dressed in human clothes and tanned – then you would not know what is happening."

"Listen to the smart-ass Mud Boy." Root rolled his eyes. "It's called intuition, all right, Fowl? Holly's got it, and she'll tell you so. It might not always be accurate, but it's gotten me out of trouble several times. So when I say there's something big going on, I mean _there's something big going on._"

"Very well", conceded Artemis. "Then we had better head to E1 to find Holly and ask her to brief us."

"Finally, we're on the same page", exclaimed Root as he began to trudge across the grass. 'Come on, Mud Boy, time is of the essence."

* * *

_**A/N : Ahhaahaha! I had you all fooled, didn't I? You guys seriously thought Artemis was dead, never to return. I must admit, reading all your comments about that made me feel absolutely gleeful, knowing I was setting you all up. This is my good reason, by the way. I "killed" Artemis, only to "resurrect" him later on when his presence would be most crucial. Oh, and the flashback story sequence will be coming to a climax and ending soon - but not the actual story itself. So, yeah, that's all for now. Thanks to my reviewers **dimka-roza-belikova, mischievous101, Beckett Simpleton, **and **Magiske-Fingrer**.**_

**Disclaimer: I can happily say I own the plot, but not much else.**_**  
**_


	10. Chapter Nine

**_October 2, Technical Support, LEP Headquarters_**

_"Are you sure it's in here?" Holly peered underneath a computer counter, looking for the bomb that was set to go off today._

_ "I'm almost 100% positive", Artemis replied. "It's the most logical place, aside from the areas we've searched. Even if, for any reason, the bomb malfunctioned and imploded at only a fraction of its intended power, it would still destroy the bulk of LEP equipment, as well as negate a significant part of Haven's communication system."_

_ "I hope you're right, Artemis, because if Fern's intel was accurate, we've only got today to find the bomb before it takes out the city."_

_ "I know", said Artemis seriously. _

_Holly bit her lip, knowing that if they couldn't find the bomb, they would both die, along with everyone else in Haven._

_ They continued searching in silence, looking in every box of stored weapons and checking behind every hanging LEP suit. Presently Artemis ventured into a connected room that was framed by metal door hinges._

_ "Holly", he called. "I think I've found it."_

_ Holly was at his side within seconds, verifying his discovery. The bomb was a flat, hollow prism with a digital timer built into the center. It was attached to the underside of an overhanging metal shelf and there was a piece of black tape over the timer. Holly cautiously reached out and removed the tape, revealing the glowing red numbers underneath. At present, the timer read 20:59. But twenty what? Hours, seconds, minutes?_

_ Their question was answered when the last number blinked into 8, then 7, then 6, and so on. Twenty minutes._

_ Holly looked at Artemis fearfully. Twenty minutes was not enough time to get LEPretrieval here to defuse the bomb, and while Holly had training, she lacked the precision necessary to stop a countdown in such a short time. Haven was doomed._

**Chapter Nine **

**Trouble Kelp's Office, LEP HQ**

Trouble paced around his desk while Holly watched his movements tensely.

"You're sure about this?" he asked as he whirled to face Holly.

"As sure as I can be, given the circumstances", she replied. "Foaly did a lot of research just to get this far, and it makes sense. Yolande McGregor works in a gold mine just six miles east of Haven, and Ark Sool…" Holly frowned. "Actually, Foaly didn't tell me what Sool's connection with cyanide is."

"He was posted as one of the guards in Perry Underwood's mine about five months ago", said Trouble. "I thought it would keep him busy, since he seemed quite upset that the attempted bombing fell through."

"You suspected him?" gasped Holly.

"I thought he looked a little too smug when Lieutenant Fern held Grub hostage, and a bit too worried when the bombing didn't succeed", responded Trouble. "It was just a gut feeling, and I didn't have any hard evidence, so I assigned him to the mines. I thought it would keep him out of trouble." He paused. "Apparently not."

"Well, we've got enough evidence to book him for at least 72 hours", said Holly. "And Yolande McGregor too. That should give us enough time to dig up a few more leads."

"McGregor's not a problem, but I haven't a clue where Sool is", Trouble admitted. "He requested leave three weeks ago, just about when the connection between the missing fairies came to our attention."

"He's gone off radar? That can't be good."

"I'm sure it's not, but he's not at his home, and we're not picking him up on any computer. His family hasn't seen him either."

"There must be something we can do to locate him", argued Holly.

"It won't take long", Trouble assured her. "If Sool's running this operation, he can't be in some dirt hole with a computer. There are only a few places without surveillance that maintain the facilities he needs. If he's not behind this, then we don't really need to locate him right away." Trouble tapped his watch computer to relay some orders to several LEP officers, but before he could even initiate communication, something crashed through the window and slammed into him.

"D'Arvit!" Holly swore as her commander went down. She ducked low and whipped out her Neutrino while making her way over to Trouble.

"Trouble?" She grimaced as she saw the gaping wound in his chest, caused by the human bullet that had embedded itself in one of his ribs. Magical blue sparks were already playing over the wound, but they wouldn't do much good unless she got the bullet out. Wincing, Holly reached in with two fingers and wrenched the metal slug free of the bone.

Another shot flew through the broken window, thudding into the wall, while someone started banging at the door. Whoever it was, Holly knew he wasn't friendly. She brought her wrist to her lips and sent out an SOS to the rest of the LEP.

"Red alert, there are snipers in LEP HQ", she spoke rapidly into her watch. "Repeat, there are snipers in LEP HQ. They're using human guns, repeat, human guns. Commander Kelp is down. Requesting immediate police and medical backup. Foaly, are you getting this?"

"I'm getting it, Holly", Foaly's voice responded over the watch's tiny speakers. "Unfortunately, I can't do anything to help you at the moment. I'm locked in my booth and the system's malfunctioning. Grub should be on his way, though – communication is still functioning. How's Trouble?"

Holly looked down and examined the commander. The blue sparks across his chest were already fading, but they had not repaired even half the damage the bullet had caused. She groaned.

"Not good, he's out of magic and he's still in pretty bad shape. I might have to heal him myself."

"Holly, be careful", cautioned Foaly. "If you use up all your magic and you get hurt…"

"I know", said Holly grimly. She laid her hands on Trouble's chest and willed her magic to heal him. "Heal", she whispered.

The blue sparks traveled down her arm and into Trouble's body, knitting tissue back together and closing the wound. Holly was rewarded by Trouble's groan as he regained consciousness. "D'Arvit!" he cursed. Then he noticed Holly. "Holly, are you okay?"

"Give me a minute", Holly panted. The healing had exhausted her; she was almost out of magic.

"Holly, you shouldn't have done that", chastised Trouble as he picked his gun from his belt.

"I couldn't let you die", Holly retorted, straightening. "The medical warlocks wouldn't have gotten here soon enough. That's twice I've saved your life."

"More than that, if you count the number of times you and Artemis have saved Haven." Trouble quickly assessed the situation. The window shooter had stopped shooting, so their main problem was the door. It was still being hammered upon violently.

Trouble crawled behind his desk and aimed his gun at the door, ready for the moment when their enemies would break it down. Holly ducked into a cubicle and did the same.

The door's hinges groaned, and the reinforced wood soon gave way, leaving the path clear for an odd assortment of about a dozen fairies.

"Don't kill them, Holly!" Trouble warned as he stunned the two gnomes in the lead. "They're the missing fairies. They've been _mesmerized._"

Holly fired a quick round of charges from her Neutrino, coming out of hiding temporarily to get a better angle. That was just about when Foaly's agitated voice alerted her to a situation in the Ops Booth.

"D'Arvit, Holly, they're coming for me!" Foaly cried. "It's Lorianne Herbert – by the gods, she looks murderous!"

"Foaly!" Holly exclaimed, momentarily distracted.

Trouble squeezed two bursts from his gun in quick succession. "Holly, watch out!" he yelled at her.

His warning came just half a second too late. Holly had noticed it too – the human gun pointed straight at her by the _mesmerized _elf – and had already begun to retreat back to the cover of the cubicle, but she was too slow. The elf pressed hard on the trigger, shooting a steel bullet that caught Holly in the stomach. She collapsed on the spot, her Neutrino slipping from her grasp. The few remaining sparks of magic she had flickered feebly over the wound before vanishing completely. Holly Short was severely injured with not a drop of magic left in her.

"Holly!" cried Trouble as he stunned the last few fairies in the room. He raced to her and groped her wrist, searching for a pulse. "Grub!" he shouted into his watch when he ensured that Holly still had a slow, sluggish heartbeat, "where are you?"

"I'm coming as fast as I can, Trubs", his brother hollered back. "They barricaded the corridor – we've only just managed to break through. We'll be there in two minutes."

"Tell me you have a medical warlock with you", Trouble said. He grabbed his jacket from its stand and pressed it to Holly's wound to staunch the bleeding.

"Sorry, Trubs, no warlock. The warlocks are busy elsewhere." Grub's voice was strained; he obviously knew what happened to Holly. "Maybe between me and the rest of the officers, we have enough magic to keep Holly alive till we can get her a full-blown healing. I – hang on", he broke off suddenly in shock. "You wouldn't believe who just showed up."

"I don't care who it is!" Trouble shouted. "Just get here now!"

"Right", agreed Grub, just before he and five other LEP members appeared in the doorway with two other people Trouble thought he would never see again.

"Holly!" cried Artemis.

"D'Arvit, Short!" exclaimed Root. "Keep yourself alive, Captain – there are innocents to protect!" he said, trying to infuse Holly with the mental strength needed to keep herself awake by stressing her sense of duty as an LEP officer. It might have worked, had Holly still retained the strength to keep her brain functioning at normal levels. As it was, Holly did not hear him, and her vision was quickly being obscured by dark clouds of black.

_Artemis, _was her last thought before the darkness claimed her.

* * *

_**A/N: Ooohh! Aren't I evil? Happy 1st of November to you guys. Only fifty-four more days till Christmas! Yay! Thanks to **Magiske-Fingrer, ElfinEragon, RideForeverO.o, Slim Shady, **and **Unknown **for reviewing! And thanks to all you guys who have favourited this story or put it on story alert! Maybe you can leave a review next chapter?**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_Artemis Fowl._**  
**


	11. Chapter Ten

**_October 2, Technical Support_**

_ Artemis ran his hands over the bomb, searching frantically for something, anything, that might stop the countdown. The blinking numbers already read ten minutes, and were steadily decreasing. Holly might have resigned herself to the fact that she was going to die, but Artemis had not._

_ "Holly, is there a tool box anywhere about?" he asked._

_ Holly looked surprised. "Yes", she replied. "Foaly always maintains one here. Titanium casing and the latest in gadgetry omni-tools. But what good will that do?" _

_ "Can you bring it to me, please?"_

_ Puzzled, Holly retrieved the bulky rectangular case from a shelf and handed it to Artemis, who immediately emptied its contents onto the floor._

_ "What are you doing?" asked Holly, daring to hope that Artemis might have a plan. She jumped in shock as Artemis selected a laser cuter and trained it on the bomb's casing, making a small hole. "Artemis! What are you doing?"_

_ "I'm releasing the hydro-nitrate gas", he answered. "The fewer combustive atoms that are within range of the fuse ignitor, the smaller the explosion will be. We don't have time to release all the gas, but maybe we can restrict the blast to a small area." He unceremoniously yanked the bomb from the shelf and shoved it inside the titanium tool box. "That should significantly decrease the power of the explosion, but we still won't have enough time to get clear." He cast calculating eyes on the door frame of the room. "Where is the control pad for these doors?"_

_ "Right here", Holly said, pointing at a switchbox mounted on the inside wall. "If you're planning on locking the bomb inside the room, you can only do it if you're inside too. You can blame Foaly's paranoia for that system."_

_ Artemis nodded curtly, then pushed Holly out before activating the doors._

_ "Artemis!" Holly screamed, realising what he was doing. "No!" She pounded on the clear, bulletproof glass._

_ "I have to, Holly", Artemis said in a pained voice. "This is the only chance for Haven…for you."_

_ "Come out", Holly begged. "We'll think of something else. Don't sacrifice yourself. You're too valuable."_

_ "What's one life compared with ten thousand?" Artemis asked with a half-smile. "No, Holly, this is the only way. There's no time to think of anything else." How true – the numbers on the bomb read 02:00. Two minutes._

_ "Artemis, please", Holly pleaded. "Please don't do this. I've already lost so many people – I can't lose you too. Artemis – Artemis, you're my best friend – please, please don't do this."_

_ "I'm sorry, Holly." Artemis's voice was sincere, and his eyes shone with – were those tears? "Please tell my family I love them, and give my regards to Foaly and Trouble." The timer ticked to fifty seconds, and now the countdown became audible._

_ "No!" cried Holly. "I love you, Artemis", she said impulsively, knowing he wouldn't take it the wrong way and not caring if he did since she would never have the chance to say it again. "I never told you, but I love you."_

_ Artemis smiled gently. "I love you too, Holly", he told her as the numbers counted down to ten. "You've been a very good friend to me. I'm glad I got to know you. Be well."_

_ Holly froze. _Be well. _The same words Julius Root had uttered to her more than five years ago, before he died. Holly felt like she was reliving history, trapped in a nightmare as the timer ticked down to zero and a bluish-yellow flame blossomed within the room, enveloping Artemis completely._

_ "Artemis!" she cried, tears running down her cheeks. "Artemis", she murmured brokenly. _

_ Amid the roar of the contained explosion, she seemed to hear the ghost of a whisper floating in the room. _

Be well.

**Chapter Ten **

**Ward 11, St. Caduceus Hospital, Haven City**

Holly moaned softly as she slowly regained consciousness. She hurt all over and the light was too bright even through her closed eyelids. Her senses were beginning to work again, coming back one by one – first feeling, then smell, taste, and hearing. She guessed she'd be able to see if she opened her eyes too, but she didn't want to do that just yet. Instead, she strained to hear what the murmuring voices were saying.

"I don't understand, Julius", said Trouble's voice. "Do you mean to say you've been living with the Mud Men for the past six years?"

"Good Lord, no", answered another familiar voice. Holly twitched and almost sat up straight, but a heavy lethargy lay like a blanket over her and she remained still. "No, Trouble, I don't think I could stand to live as a Mud Man for more than a year, surface life or no surface life. I just didn't want to barge straight back into Haven when it was quite obvious that everyone thought I was dead."

_Darn right they did, _thought Holly to herself. _I saw you die, Julius, how are you alive?_

"I was up there no more than a month", continued Root. "I got wind of Fowl's death and decided to come back, only to run into our Mud Boy friend who was lucky enough to escape the same way I did."

"Luck had nothing to do with it", denied Artemis. "It was pure science. I assumed I would die in that explosion, of course, but now I know that the concentration of nuclear power actually transported me through time."

This time Holly really did bolt upright, shocked to the core at the revelation that not one, but two people whom she thought had died had miraculously returned to life. Then she regretted jerking awake so violently – her body wasn't ready yet, and she collapsed back on the bed, dizzy.

"Holly, take it easy – that was a pretty rough healing you went through", warned Trouble.

"What…" Holly gasped.

"Save your breath, Major Short", Root said gruffly, hiding his emotions well. "We'll explain later. For now, be grateful you're still among the living."

"How are you feeling, Holly?" Artemis asked anxiously. It was then Holly noticed that he was holding her hand.

"Don't make her talk, Fowl", scolded Root. "Please do take into consideration with that big brain of yours that this was a much more strenuous healing than the one that reattached her finger back in Murmansk."

"What happened?" Holly managed to ask. "How are you…"

"Long story." Artemis waved the question aside. "Suffice to say, the separate explosions that supposedly killed both me and Commander Root had in fact transported us to the future. Julius arrived in New York City on February 28 this year, and I appeared in Tara just this morning. Fortunately, Julius was there to tell me what was going on."

"First of all, I'm not the Commander anymore, and secondly, don't call me Julius", said Root.

"If you are no longer the Commander and I am not allowed to call you Julius, pray tell, just what may I address you as?"

Root opened his mouth to make a retort and then closed it again. "I didn't think about that", he admitted. "All right, fine, you're allowed to call me Julius if you use my name sparingly – very sparingly."

"Very well", conceded Artemis.

"Can somebody please explain to me exactly what happened?" Holly demanded.

"You got yourself shot, Holly", Trouble said curtly. "We almost lost you. If Julius and Artemis hadn't been there, we might not have been able to keep you alive long enough to get you to No1 for healing. What were you thinking, exposing yourself like that?"

Holly cringed, and then shot upright again, remembering why she'd been distracted. This time her body had recovered enough to stand the action. "D'Arvit, I forgot!" she exclaimed. "It was Foaly – he was in trouble…he said Lorianne Herbert was coming to get him – how is he? Is he all right?"

"Foaly's fine, Holly", Artemis assured her. "He's still locked in his booth, but he's got an LEP officer helping him override the lockdown from outside – Lieutenant Hallie Fern, no less. He's more worried about you." Artemis's brow furrowed slightly. "It really was very close, Holly", he stressed. "You should rest."

"I'll rest when we've caught whoever is behind this all, be it Ark Sool or Yolande McGregor", Holly retorted, climbing off the bed.

"Ark Sool?" Root scowled. "You never mentioned this", he accused Trouble. "What's Sool been doing? And who's this Yolande McGregor?"

"They're our current suspects for this mayhem in Haven", Holly replied, stringing her Neutrino on her belt. "Foaly did some research and discovered salt-ionized copper potassium cyanide in the home of Lorianne Herbert."

"Okay, stop", said Root forcefully. "Rewind. Go back, Holly, and give me a proper briefing. For Frond's sake, you're a major now, Short."

Holly grinned and, with Trouble's help, began again, explaining everything that had been happening since Artemis's supposed death. She downplayed the part where she fell into a depression, but described in detail the current plot that was threatening to upset the balance in the entire underground. When she finished, Root rubbed his chin and cursed.

"D'Arvit. This is serious. Very serious. _Mesmerizing _fairies, you say?"

"Precisely", said Trouble. "Now you see why it's so difficult for us to get a hold on the perpetrator behind this."

"On the contrary", said Artemis, a thoughtful look on his face, "The fact that the _mesmer _is being used on fairies will make it easier to locate the villain."

"What do you mean?" Holly asked.

"Am I correct in assuming that _mesmerizing _fairies requires more power than _mesmerizing _humans?" Artemis inquired.

"Significantly more", Trouble affirmed. "Our own magic counteracts the _mesmer _being used against us. It would take a substantial amount of magic and several weeks to completely _mesmerize _even one fairy."

"Where are you going with this, Fowl?" Root queried.

"Look at it this way", said Artemis. "If a fairy is _mesmerizing _several other fairies, he or she would require frequent infusions of magic – therefore, he or she would need to perform the Ritual fairly often – perhaps every month or so. That being said, any fairy performing the Ritual that frequently would need easy access to the surface – or, more specifically, to an oak tree by a river bend. I'm certain that helps narrow down the possible locations."

"Only Foaly would know for sure", countered Trouble. "But you're probably right." He withdrew a communicator from his belt and opened a channel. "Foaly. How's it going? Are the computers working yet?"

Foaly's voice was muffled and slightly hazy as he replied. "Barely. The locking mechanism on the door's still not functioning. Lieutenant Fern's doing her best, but she's no techie. It's been over two hours; if this goes on much longer I might call in Mulch to tunnel me out. That's how bad this is. I hate being a prisoner of my own inventions. How's Holly?"

"Holly is fine, and already back on the case, so can you quit ranting, centaur, and listen to the Commander already?" scolded Root.

There was a pause at the other end of the line, then a hesitant, very cautious response. "Trouble? Who's the other person with you who sounds very, very much like the late Commander Julius Root?"

Trouble coughed; in all the excitement, he had forgotten to inform Foaly that Root was alive again. Or Artemis, for that matter.

"It _is_ Julius Root, Foaly, and I am present as well", Artemis said into the communicator.

In the Ops Booth, Foaly nearly had a heart palpitation. "Mud Boy's there too?" he said in an incredulous voice. "Trouble, what in Frond's name is going on there? Something you forgot to mention?"

"Long story short: Julius and Artemis were tossed into time portals rather than being killed in the explosions that they supposedly died in", Trouble summarized.

"D'Arvit, Trouble – all you told me was that you were taking Holly to St. Caduceus for healing and that she was almost gone! How am I supposed to work when I'm left out of the loop? Does nobody tell me anything?"

"Stop complaining, Foaly", Holly said.

"Holly!" came Foaly's relieved voice. "Gods, it's good to hear your voice. You've got to stop playing poker with death, Holly – I can't count the number of times you've cheated it; your odds must be getting low."

"While I completely agree with that assessment", Root said testily, "might I suggest we get back to the purpose of this call? Foaly, can you make a list of places in Haven which have easy access to chutes or shuttle pods? And while you're at it, see if anyone has applied for frequent or long-lasting surface visas. Anything closer than three weeks or longer than two months is suspect."

"Got it. I'm running the criteria through Haven's general database right now. Might I add that it's good to have you back, Julius?"

"Don't call me Julius."

Foaly chuckled. The old team was together once more.

* * *

**_A/N: Reunion! Reunion! So, what did you think? Was that last flashback too corny? I'm still relatively new at writing romance, compared to all my other genres - especially A/H. I wasn't even sure I _wanted _Holly and Artemis together. I dithered on that a bit, but I think I resolved it pretty nicely in the last few chapters of the story - which we will get to in due time. Thank you _**_dimka-roza-belikova, mischievous101, Magiske-Fingrer, Marco Schuster, RideForeverO.o, stoffelus, **and **ZeZe123 **for reviewing! That's a record for this story - reviews on a single chapter from seven different people! Special thanks to **dimka-roza-belikova, **who's reviewed on every single chapter and the prologue. **mischievous101, **don't you think hacking's a wee bit extreme? I'm already posting daily.**_

**Disclaimer: Ha ha, no. **_**  
**_


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

**Underwood Mining Industries, Haven**

"I assure you, Corporal, I have no idea where Ark Sool has gone", Perry Underwood said earnestly, fingering a monogrammed pen on her polished desk. "He was assigned to guard the jewel mines on the east side of Haven, and he completely abandoned his post. Imagine my annoyance when I complained to Commander Kelp and discovered that Sool had applied for and received official leave from LEP work."

Grub Kelp sighed as he dutifully wrote down her testimony in a small notebook. If he had his way, he wouldn't be scratching with a pen on a sheet of paper, but Trubs _insisted _that before anything was logged into a computer, it had to be backed by a physical copy. Trouble didn't trust computers as much as most other fairies did. He claimed digital files could be hacked into and altered. While that was true, Grub would love to see the person who could get past Foaly's security measures. Oh, wait a minute…he already had.

Artemis Fowl II. Though he was part of the Retrieval team that had attempted to rescue Holly Short during the Fowl Manor siege more than eight years ago, Grub hadn't actually met the genius then, but he did vividly remember his frightening encounter with that mountain of a Mud Man, Butler, Fowl's bodyguard. Grub shuddered. That was an experience he still had nightmares of.

Grub's first actual meeting with Artemis was when Holly brought the Irish boy, along with Butler, belowground during the B'wa Kell uprising. Though Butler had been unconscious at the time, Grub still squeaked with terror at the sight of him and did not stick around to find out what they were doing there. That had been Grub's first, and only, encounter with Artemis, until six months ago during the boy's stay in Haven. Imagine his astonishment, then, when the Mud Boy suddenly appeared in LEP HQ half a year after he supposedly died. Grub had heard tales of Artemis and Holly's adventures, but this one – coming back from the dead – really took the cake.

And if that wasn't enough, who would have thought that Commander Julius Root, of all people, would return as well? Two ghosts in one day, apparently alive. Grub couldn't get over it. There was never a boring day at the LEP. Well, maybe not _never_.

"Corporal, did you hear me?"

Grub snapped back to the present with a jolt. "Huh?"

"I said, your communicator's ringing", said Perry Underwood.

"Oh!" Grub pulled his circular communicator from his belt, noting the caller ID, and answered it. "Hey, Trubs."

Trouble didn't lose his temper or yell at his brother for using his first name as he might have several years back. In fact, he seemed almost resigned as he said, "Grub, I've told you time and time again, it's _Commander _while you're on duty. And don't bring up Mummy."

Grub couldn't resist a grin. This was a very common argument between them, and while it used to be quite volatile, it had mellowed a good deal over the years.

"Did you get Perry Underwood's statement?" Trouble continued.

This time it was Grub's turn to be resigned. "Yes, I did, on paper, like you said." He lifted his notebook to show Trouble.

"Good. If you're done, I need you to bring in Yolande McGregor for questioning."

"Who's she?" Grub asked.

"A suspect. Her address should already be in your computer. Once you've apprehended her, take her into interrogation. And be careful. If she's really the one behind all this, she's dangerous."

"Roger that, Commander." It was a mark of how serious the situation was or how bad it could get that Grub didn't waste any more time on casual interaction with his brother.

_**~AF~**_

**Ops Booth**

"D'Arvit!" exclaimed Lieutenant Hallie Fern as she narrowly avoided being electrocuted by the control panel. "It's no use, Foaly; whoever initiated the lockdown shut it good and tight."

Some indecipherable muttering was heard from inside the booth – no doubt Foaly using some of his choicest swear words. Irritated centaurs could curse worse than swear toads if they really put their minds to it.

Fern was just on the verge of giving up entirely and telling Foaly to wait until Technical Support could break him out, when three centaurs trotted up to her. Fern noted that the oldest was a pretty, sweet-looking female with caramel-coloured fur, and the other two could not be more than two years old.

"Excuse me", said the older centaur politely, "but do you know if Foaly's in there?"

"Um…" began Fern.

"Caballine?" Foaly's surprised voice echoed from the speakers above the door. "What are you doing downtown?" Checking the fuzzy video feed, Foaly started and added, "With Cindy and Arthur, too! Nice surprise, but, eh, a rather inopportune time."

"We thought we'd meet you and we could gallop home together", said Caballine. "Are you done for the day?"

Foaly swore under his breath, not loud enough for his wife to hear; Caballine, sweet as she looked, would skin him alive if she heard him using that sort of language around the children. "Er, not exactly", he said. "There was a bit of a hassle here earlier…"

"That's putting it mildly", interjected Fern. "Assassination attempts are rare and much more than just a hassle."

"Mama, what's assassination?" asked one of the young centaurs – Cindy.

"Nothing you need to worry about, love", answered Caballine in a perfectly controlled voice, though she looked worried. "Why don't you take your brother and go rest for a bit? I'll take you home when I'm done talking with Papa."

"Okay", Cindy agreed, hooking an arm around Arthur and leading him away.

"All right, Foaly, the children can't hear; what's been happening?" Caballine demanded.

"We had some trouble with the latest villain were tracking", Foaly replied. "Whoever it is has been _mesmerizing _fairies and today he or she set them on us. They locked me in my booth and almost killed Holly and Trouble…"

"What?" gasped Caballine. "Is Holly okay?"

"Holly's fine; more than fine, in fact – it turns out Artemis and Julius are alive too – they escaped death because they fell into time tunnels during the explosions…"

"Artemis Fowl and Julius Root?"

"Yep", affirmed Foaly. "They're up at St. Caduceus with Holly and Trouble right now, but they're already at work dissecting this new plot. I could help them a lot more if we could get the system up and running again, _and _I would be able to get out of my booth. I don't know what Lieutenant Fern's been doing."

"Hey!" Fern protested indignantly. "I tried, didn't I? You of all people should know I'm not exactly technologically savvy. The most I've done before is rewire a computer circuit. I only offered to see if I could help because you helped break the _mesmer _on me last year."

"All right, all right", Foaly ceded. "Don't get all hot and bothered. Go home and rest. Just call Technical Support on your way out. I don't want to have to spend the night in here."

"You do that fairly often, anyway, Foaly", Caballine pointed out.

"I know, but I always have the option of leaving if I want to." Foaly paused. "You should go home, Caballine. Take the kids and get dinner. I likely won't be out of here for several hours yet."

Caballine glanced at her two children, who were playing a game of 'pony see, pony do', then turned back to the booth. "You sure you'll be okay, Foaly?" she asked. "Do you want me to bring you a carrot soup or something?"

"Nah, I'm okay. Thanks anyway. I'll see you when I get out of here."

"All right, Foaly. Love you."

"Love you too, Caballine."

Fern had not yet left to go home, and had thus witnessed the entire conversation. She kept her mouth shut until Caballine, Cindy, and Arthur were out of earshot, and then she let out a loud guffaw.

"Shut up, Fern", Foaly grumbled from inside the booth.

Fern ignored him and continued to laugh. "Who would've thought Foaly Canter would ever get all mushy and sentimental? Gods, Foaly – you're not even that friendly with Holly."

"Caballine's my wife, Fern. What d'you expect? And if you don't mind, I'd rather you didn't go shouting my surname to everyone in Haven. Frond knows how you found out what it was. I'm careful to keep it a closely guarded secret."

"You centaurs are so paranoid", said Fern. And then she started laughing again.

* * *

_**A/N: Hee hee hee! I loved this little scene. I claimed a little artistic license here, with Foaly's surname and kids, but I think it works nicely, don't you? I tried to make it fit in with what Eoin Colfer had already written about Foaly and his family. How'd I do?**_

_**Thank you, again, to my reviewers **dimka-roza-belikova, Slip On Ice, Magiske-Fingrer, ghostsaliensteletubbiesohmy, ZeZe123, **and **Doragon Eichi. **Your feedback is very much appreciated! =)**_

**Disclaimer: I only own the plot and the OC's like Cindy, Arthur, and Lieutenant Hallie Fern.**_**  
**_


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

**LEP Detention Cells**

Ark Sool swore under his breath as he navigated his way through the holding cells. Why, why, _why _did his plans always backfire on him this way? He'd wanted to regain his position as Commander of LEPrecon, but he couldn't. He'd tried planting a hydro-bomb to wipe out Haven – but no. And now, just when things were going so well, his minions had failed to kill Holly, Trouble, and Foaly. And not only that, but at least six of them had been captured by the LEP. How was it that he _never _got his way?

The one bright side to all of this was that despite the two days they had had them in custody, the LEP had thus far been unable to break the _mesmer _on the _mesmerized _fairies. Sool had done his work well. However, even that plus was canceled out by the fact that to get them out, Sool would have to use his security clearance. And since each LEP officer had their own personalized pass code number, Foaly would know it was he who was the mastermind for sure.

There were no guards at the holding cells, nor did he expect there to be. With his remaining _mesmerized _subordinates creating a ruckus in the heart of Haven, all nonessential LEP personnel had been pulled out of their regular duties to settle things down. Sool allowed himself a small smile at this thought. Re-igniting the goblin-dwarf turf wars had been a stroke of genius. The two races were already on the verge of open fighting again; all it took to start them off was a well-placed insult from one of his _mesmerized _dwarfs.

Sool paused just outside the multi-chambered holding cell where his six subordinates were. Did he really want to risk the LEP getting wind of his identity and his role in the events which had been unfolding? Wouldn't it be better if he kidnapped six other fairies and brought them under his power?

He decided it wouldn't. _Mesmerizing _fairies was a long, arduous process that really took a lot out of a person. It had taken him a whole month just to _mesmerize _two fairies. The LEP already suspected him, anyway, but there wasn't much they could do once their suspicions were confirmed. His fairies were ready; once he reinforced the already thick layer of _mesmer _on them, he could set them loose on Haven, declaiming the Council and undermining the LEP with their complaints and stories of a harrowing kidnapping experience – all the while singing his praises as their rescuer and hero. The LEP would use their collected evidence against him, of course – but Sool was a smooth talker, and he was sure he could twist their words and actions into a condemning testimony against them.

This being decided, Sool painstakingly punched in his pass code into the control pad. There was one flaw to his plan; since his demotion to private, his clearance had obviously been pushed down as well. Sool could only hope that it was enough to get the fairies free; otherwise it was back to the drawing board.

Fortunately, either the captive fairies were not considered very dangerous, or no one had bothered to up the clearance necessary to open the cell; the pad lighted green, and the door slid open. The fairies inside gazed coolly at Sool.

_"Come", _Sool intoned, his voice thick with the _mesmer _and ringing with bass and alto tones.

The fairies obeyed immediately; months of constant _mesmerizing _sessions had placed them completely in Sool's power. It would take several months of telepathic therapy and a direct command from Sool himself to break the _mesmer _link between them for good.

Sool eyed his minions critically. They were in perfect condition, thanks to their magic, and were waiting for him to issue orders. Which he did.

"Collect your teammates and gather at the safehouse. There are things to be done."

The fairies nodded and ran off to extricate their colleagues from the upheaval in the city centre, while Sool rubbed his hands in glee. Soon the seed of doubt would be planted, and he could take control of Haven. With that happy thought, Sool slipped out of the room before he could be detected.

**_~AF~_**

**Ops Booth, Police Plaza**

"No, no, no, no…" groaned Foaly as he typed feverishly at the keyboard. "Come on! D'Arvit!" He banged the monitor once and then settled back in his chair with a defeated air. Mournfully, he glanced at all his computers, then at his many security measures, and then, with a huge, resigned sigh, tapped a number into a communications link.

"Diggums here. How may I help you?" answered Mulch, swinging around on his swivel chair. Then he noticed who was calling. "Foaly! Hello again. What's up, pony boy?"

At any other time, Foaly would have scolded Mulch for using that demeaning nickname, but now, he was just desperate to get out of his booth. He had actually been stranded in here for _two whole days! _Whoever hacked into his system had injected some kind of devastating electronic virus into it. Technical Support was still trying – and failing – to get him out, so for the past fifty hours Foaly had been eating, sleeping, and working in the Ops Booth; and he was downright murderous about it. Whoever had done this was going to get it, and get it good. No one – _no one _– locked the LEP's head technician in his own booth with his own inventions and got away with it.

"Mulch", Foaly said, somewhat tiredly, "can you come get me out of my booth?"

Mulch jumped out of his chair in shock. "You're not out yet? Holy Frond, Foaly – it's been _two days!_"

"I know!" Foaly retorted. "I don't know who did this or how, but I am going to make sure they at least get a shot from the new Neutrino model."

"Ah…aren't those still experimental?" asked Mulch cautiously.

"Yes. They won't kill anyone, but who's to say they won't fry a few brain cells?"

"You're really going off the deep end here, Foaly", Mulch commented.

"You try being locked into your office for two days. It's not fun. So would you quit talking already and get me out of here?"

"And how do you expect me to do that?" inquired Mulch. "Police Plaza is cemented over; I can't tunnel through."

"Well, for the love of Frond, think of something!" yelled Foaly. "Break the cement and burrow underneath; or use one of your other special dwarf gifts. I'm going out of my mind here."

"Okay, okay", Mulch interjected hastily. "Hold on; I'll be right there." He terminated the link.

"You'd better be", grumbled Foaly at the blank screen. "Or there'll be something bad to pay."

A few minutes later, every security red alert and alarm started sounding off as Mulch began to work his magic outside the booth. Foaly clapped his hands over his ears and disabled the sound before he went deaf. However, in all the ruckus, he missed the soft beep that accompanied the window that popped open on one of the computers – the window which reported that the six _mesmerized _fairies in Detention Cell Block 3 had been released by a Private Ark Sool.

* * *

_**A/N: I'd say we're getting close to the climax here, but there's still quite a few more chapters to go. But, I have very good news. Eleven reviews yesterday! You guys made my day. I'm so happy! Thank you very much to **Doragon-Eichi, dimka-roza-belikova, stoffelus, Kida Ookami, Slip On Ice, RideForeverO.o, Valerie3, Drishti3693, ZeZe123, ghostsaliensteletubbiesohmy, **and the **Unknown **critic (who **_**are _you, anyway?). And yes, _**_Unknown, **this story is set after the **Time Paradox - **after the **Atlantis Complex, **in fact.**_**_  
_**

**Disclaimer: Despite **_Drishti3693 _**suggesting that I am in fact Eoin Colfer under alias, I am not. As such, I do not own **_Artemis Fowl. _**Thanks for the comparison, though, **_Drishti _**- it's very flattering.**_  
_


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen **

**Interrogation 1, Police Plaza**

The two officers observed their suspect intently through the one-way mirror that took up most of the wall. Holly and Trouble were accompanied by Artemis and Root, the latter of whom was smoking a goodly sized fungus cigar with deep satisfaction.

"Gods, it's been a long time since I had one of these", Root said almost fondly as he inhaled another puff. "Now then", he continued, "before we start interrogating McGregor, let's look at where we stand."

"I'm listening", said Trouble.

"First off, you've narrowed down the suspect list to either Ark Sool or Yolande McGregor; is that correct?" Root took his cigar out of his mouth to think.

"Yes", agreed Holly.

"Are you certain it's one of them, and not anyone else?"

Holly and Trouble exchanged a glance. "Yes", Holly affirmed after a moment's hesitation. Root didn't miss that.

"Hmph. You paused, Holly – that's not good. Certainty is not preceded by pauses. Are you absolutely _sure _it can't possibly be anyone else who's doing this?"

"Yes", Holly repeated with more conviction. "Foaly was the one who came up with the list, and Mulch whittled it down to two for us."

"The convict's still sticking his nose in LEP business, eh?" Root sounded unperturbed. "Somehow I'm not surprised at that. He still up to his criminal ways?"

"He's gone straight, Julius", said Holly. "He got a full pardon from the Council and he's been running a PI firm with Doodah Day for the past four years."

Root snorted. "Full pardon, eh?" He squinted at Artemis calculatingly. "How did that happen?"

Trouble coughed. "It was discovered that the, er, date on the original search warrant for his cave was after you actually searched it", he explained delicately.

Root sputtered on his cigar smoke, his face starting to turn a familiar shade of purple. "Date was after…D'Arvit, I _know _I obtained the warrant _before _I searched his cave. This has Mud Boy written all over it." He glared at Artemis.

"I required his services to reverse the mind-wipe", Artemis responded calmly. "It seemed prudent to provide a means of escape for him."

Root scowled. "Hmph. It obviously turned out for the best, so I'm going to pretend we did not just have that conversation. Now, getting back on topic…Holly. You trust Foaly and Diggums to be accurate in their observations?"

"I do", Holly affirmed.

"Very well, then. Since I trust you and you trust them, we will proceed under the assumption that it is only either Sool or McGregor who's causing this mess." Root drew another breath on his cigar. "Who's interrogating the suspect?"

"I'll do it", Trouble asserted.

"Good. Get to it."

_**~AF~**_

**Outside the Ops Booth**

Mulch complained long and loudly as he did various things outside the Ops Booth. He cursed as he jiggled his wiry hairs through the cracks in the electronic devices. He prattled about how underappreciated he was while he attempted to drill his way through the cement. He carped about Foaly's 'stupid, useless, unfounded paranoia' when he was unable to break the blacked-out, bulletproof windows with a heavy bowling ball. He vowed untruthfully that he wished he'd never been involved with the Artemis Fowl affair as he continued to try to get Foaly out.

"Stop complaining, Mulch – at least _you're _not the one who's stuck inside the room", said Foaly.

"No, I'm supposed to be the one who breaks myself _in_to the booth, not try to get you _out_", Mulch retorted. "D'Arvit, Foaly – just how much security have you put on this booth?"

"A lot", Foaly replied.

"Well, it's a right pain in the behind to bypass all the alarms and lockdowns."

"Mulch", said Foaly patiently, "Maybe you could work faster if you stopped talking."

"Listen, centaur, d'you want me to get you out or not?" Mulch asked testily as he finally succeeded in prying the lid off the circuitry panel that controlled the doors with several twisted strands of stiff, wiry dwarf hair. "Right, I think I'm getting somewhere. What's the code to open the doors?"

"3126089", Foaly answered. "And then Alpha Beta Two."

"Sheesh", Mulch remarked as he tweaked a blue wire within the circuitry panel while punching in the code to the control pad with the other hand. "Talk about paranoid."

The doors slid open with a _swish _and Foaly gratefully stepped out. "Thank you, Mulch", he said sincerely. "I owe you one."

"I won't let you forget it", said Mulch. "Just don't make a habit of getting locked into your booth, okay? I've never _seen _so many security features trained one area. I think the experience had permanently put me off trying to break into the Ops Booth."

"That, at least, is a good thing." Foaly stretched and yawned. Then he pulled out a cell phone.

"Calling Holly?" asked Mulch.

"Caballine", Foaly replied. "I'm going to let her know I'll be home in a bit."

Mulch nodded and peeked inside the Ops Booth, just to see the condition it was in now. "Uh…Foaly?" he said. "Did anyone authorize the release of the _mesmerized _fairies the LEP apprehended two days ago?"

"What?" Foaly cantered (pun intended) back into the booth with his cell phone still in hand.

"Look", said Mulch, pointing at the unheeded notice pulsing gently on the screen of one of the computers near the top of the wall. "Pi 62-91-4876 Gamma Nine. Whose code is that?"

Foaly glanced at the monitor and reared back in shock. "D'Arvit!" he swore. "How could I miss that?" Tossing his phone onto a table, he started typing furiously into a keyboard. Calling Caballine would have to wait.

* * *

_**A/N: Now we're getting close to the action scenes. There will be maybe ten more chapters, and an epilogue - or is that nine chapters and an epilogue? I forget exactly. Thanks to **dimka-roza-belikova, Slip On Ice, mischievous101 **(such a lovely long review), and **ghostsaliensteletubbiesohmy._

**Disclaimer: I wish. If that were the case, my dream of becoming an author would be fulfilled. It's not - not yet, anyways. I plan to reach it - soon.**_  
_


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter Fourteen **

**Interrogation 1, Police Plaza**

Yolande McGregor did not understand why she was being interrogated about the recent upheaval in Haven. Anyone could see that she had nothing to do with it. She worked twelve hours a day as a chemical analyst in _Herald and Finn, Mining Co., _the top producer of mining products and tools under the earth. She had never broken any laws, always abided by the decisions of the Council and the LEP, paid her taxes regularly, and had always done her best for the community. She contributed a fifth of her salary to the _Good Fairy Fund _– her favourite charity – without fail every year, for Frond's sake! In all respects, she was a model citizen. So why was she being treated like a common criminal? Maybe her Great-Aunt Bea had it right after all – "You mark my words; one day when you're not careful, you'll never be careful again", she had said when Uncle Dom was killed in a mining accident.

"Come on, Yolande – tell us what's going on", Trouble Kelp said persuasively, attempting to coax information out of her. Yolande drummed her fingers on the table. "Your friends say you've been acting strangely of late."

"Like they care", she retorted. Lately she had come to the conclusion that there was a plot to get her fired from her job – and one of her so-called friends was behind it. Jealousy, that's what it was. Just because she was good at her work.

"They do", said Trouble. "And we do, too. Is there anything out of the ordinary happening in your life? Something traumatic, maybe? Has anyone suspicious recently approached you?"

"Yes, yes, and yes", she answered impatiently. "I'd call a plot to get me fired traumatic, wouldn't you say? And everyone I work with is a suspect."

Trouble looked frustrated by her response, but he kept it under control. He was good – she would give him that.

Behind the one-way mirror, Julius Root stubbed out his fungus cigar. "We're getting nowhere with this."

"I agree", concurred Artemis. "She's not the one we're after."

"Say now, that's a big leap from 'nowhere'", Root said suspiciously. "How'd you figure that out?"

"Have you noticed the way she's acting?" Artemis asked. "She's tense, uptight. She's on edge. She thinks everyone's out to get her and she's counting her words."

"Atlantis Complex?" Holly questioned, remembering her talk with Foaly. "You really think that's it?"

"Having suffered from it myself, I recognise the symptoms", Artemis confirmed. "Paranoia, schizophrenia, counting, and an overall change in her demeanor. It's definitely Atlantis Complex."

"Which means it's Ark Sool who's behind this", Holly concluded. "I'll let Foaly know…speak of the devil." Her communicator had just started ringing, and the caller ID showed that it was Foaly. "Hello, Foaly", she greeted amicably. "Still stuck in your booth? Are you calling to complain again? ...what? No, not particularly…yes, probably…wait, what? Are you sure? Frond! Yes, I'll tell the Commander. Yes, I know. We'll get right on it." She ended the call, looking decidedly more serious.

"What is it, Holly?" Artemis inquired.

"It's Sool all right", she replied. "Foaly just found out the _mesmerized_ fairies were released from their holding cell with Sool's clearance."

"Could it have been some other fairy using his pass code?" Artemis wondered.

"Not possible", said Holly. "Besides the officers themselves, Foaly's the only one who knows what code each LEP member has. It's top secret, classified information for each person, and no two codes are the same."

"Which means Sool's our guy", concluded Root. He rapped on the glass window to signal Trouble, who looked up and rose from his chair to enter the observation room.

"What is it?" he asked.

"McGregor's not the one causing all this mayhem", Root informed him. "The girl has Atlantis Complex. Fowl here diagnosed her himself."

"So we're after Sool?" Trouble questioned.

"Yep." Holly held up her communicator. "Update from Foaly. Sool just broke out the _mesmerized _fairies from their cell. He's the one all right."

Just then her communicator rang again. Holly answered it to hear Foaly's annoyed whinny.

"Why did you hang up, Holly? I wasn't done talking to you", he complained.

"Foaly", said Trouble. "Do you have a location for Sool?"

"Well, his phone's off, and he somehow managed to disconnect his link to the LEP mainframe…"

"So you've got nothing", Trouble surmised.

"Did I say that? I didn't say that. Honestly, when are you people going to start listening to me?"

"Foaly", growled Root.

"Right, well…" Foaly cleared his throat. "Anyway, Sool switched his phone off, but I managed to drag up its signal from some phone company archives. Once I had that, I traced it back to the last time it was transmitting, and with that information I managed to bounce the signal off the nearby telecommunications towers to form a triangulation…"

"Get _on _with it, Foaly", said Trouble impatiently.

"Okay, fine. Long story short, I've determined three possible locations for Sool's base of operations, all within the Old Quarter of town."

"Which three?"

"An abandoned warehouse on Jewel Street, an old _Pixie Salon _shop in the East Corner, and the Jubilee House."

"Got it", said Trouble. "Good work, Foaly. Holly and I will go to the Old Quarter with Captain Vein's team – you stay in the booth and do the computer work, as usual."

"Yessir."

"Hold on a minute", interjected Holly. "Foaly. Is Mulch with you?"

"Well, yes – he was actually the one who spotted the break."

"Can you send him over to the Old Quarter? We could probably use his help."

"Sure", agreed Foaly. "And er, could you send Artemis down? I might – ahem – I _may _need his help on this one." Foaly's tone was grudging and unwilling. Despite the gravity of the situation, Holly smiled. Said Mud Boy was smirking too.

"But of course, Foaly", Artemis agreed. "I'd be happy to help."

"Sure you are", grumbled Foaly, before he deliberately terminated the link.

Trouble, meanwhile, had relayed his orders to Captain Vein on his own communicator, and was getting ready to leave. "Holly, you ready?"

Holly grinned and put a hand on her Neutrino. "I'm always ready."

"Okay, then, let's g–wait a minute." Trouble turned to Root. "Are you coming with us?"

Root thought about that for a moment. "No", he decided. "I think I'll go down to the Ops Booth with Fowl. Even though a fair number of people already know, I'd rather not advertise the fact that Artemis and I aren't dead. It might be a moot point, but it might give us an advantage, since Sool doesn't know we're alive."

"Point taken", Artemis concurred. "Shall we go? The sooner we get to the Ops Booth, the better."

"Right", agreed Root. He marched to the door, with Artemis following behind.

Before he left the room, Artemis paused and looked at Holly. "Be careful, Holly", he said.

Holly nodded. She and Artemis both knew they would have to talk about what had happened before the bomb went off, but now was not the time or place. Their interaction left Trouble wondering whether Foaly's assessment that they were just friends was accurate. Once Artemis had left, he cleared his throat.

"Vein will meet us in Frond Square", he told Holly. "Shall we get going?"

"Let's", agreed Holly.

* * *

_**A/N: Okay, question-and-answer time! Just to clarify, Captain Vein is not an OC. He's an actual character who was mentioned in **Artemis Fowl **(the first book). **Rexxor88, **I purposely used Sool as the villain, because I was getting tired of Opal Koboi myself. As for whether he dies in the end, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you? Doodah Day does not feature prominently in this story, but he might make an appearance sometime near the end - again, you'll have to wait and see. All in good time.**_

_dimka-roza-belikova, **Foaly's only been locked in for a little over two days. And the action scenes are coming, I promise you. **ElfinEragon - **math class? You must really like this story, and for this I thank you. **stoffelus, **no, I'm definitely not Eoin, one of the main reasons being I am a girl. I wrote almost the whole story out before I posted the first chapter (see **_**Ten Steps to a Successful Story _on my profile), and in fact I am still writing the last few chapters, but don't worry - I know exactly what should be in them and so my daily updates will remain daily until the story ends for good. I also proofread each chapter at least twice before I post.  
_**

_ghostsaliensteletubbiesohmy, **thank you! - for the comparison, and all the flattering things you've said about me. And you're welcome. The above paragraph should also have reassured you that I am most definitely **not **going to give this story up. It tick me off when other writers do that, too.**__WarriorKittyTribute, **I am obviously and certainly going to write more.**_

_**Lastly, I apologise for the overly long author's note, but I wanted to give each reviewer some individual time. And so, now that that's done, I will close by thanking everyone whose username is mentioned above. Thank you for your lovely reviews!**_

**Disclaimer: Since I'm not Eoin Colfer, I don't own **_Artemis Fowl.__**  
**_


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Haven City Centre**

Haven was in chaos. Although the dwarf-goblin skirmish had ended a half hour ago, the LEP was still trying to restore order. Vendors hid in their shops, whimpering about the damage they had sustained. Families barricaded themselves into their homes while their children cried and wailed. Citizens ducked behind walls or landmarks to avoid the mayhem. And through it all, Major Damien Wydon was trying to get his coalition of three LEP units to get things back to normal. Quite frankly, it was giving him a headache.

"D'Arvit!" he cursed as fairies surged around him, running amok.

"Major, I'm not getting through to them", a sprite complained after he had unsuccessfully attempted to get a group of elves to calm down.

"No one's getting through to anybody", another sprite agreed from his post.

"D'Arvit!" Wydon swore again. "Falcon, Ramez. Sound off!" he ordered.

The two captains dug whistles from their pockets and blew long, shrill blasts through it.

Instantly, the citizens stopped their frantic running. Nothing like a loud shock to break through a mass hysteria.

"All right, listen up!" Wydon called loudly. "I understand you're scared and shocked by the fight that took place here just now, but I need you to calm down so we can take control of the situation. The LEP know exactly what to do, and we're here to reorganise things. Okay?"

A few fairies nodded slowly.

"Right", said Wydon. "I'll need some information to figure out why this happened. Witnesses over there with Captain Falcon…" He waved his arm in the officer's direction. "…and vendors can report damages to Captain Ramez." Ramez raised his hand. "Everyone else, please proceed calmly and orderly to wherever you wish to go, but clear the square, because we'll be working here. Corporals Frond, Kinellan, and Warren…" He pointed them out in turn. "…will take your statements on your way out. Everyone got that? Good. Right now, hop to it."

The fairies started moving, more calmly this time, each heading to the designated officers. The vendors timidly trooped out of their shops to talk to Captain Ramez, who already had his notebook out – while most of the civilians flocked to the corporals to give a short statement and get out. The witnesses with something extra to say went to Captain Falcon to report.

"Finally", groaned Wydon.

_**~AF~**_

**Jubilee House, the Old Quarter, Haven**

The Old Quarter was the first fairy establishment underground, back when the People had been forced to retreat from the surface by Mud Men. It had been a centre of life and light, but it was now mostly empty. A few fairies did live on the side of the community closest to the heart of Haven, but for the most part it was a lonely place full of forgotten buildings and historical monuments.

Jubilee House was one such monument. The house was an old, historic mansion that used to be the private residence of Frond, the first elfin king. Though it had been a very prominent building thousands of years ago, its significance had gradually receded over the years. The Old Quarter was too secluded, too isolated from the rest of Haven to make it the government centre. Thus, the Council had voted to move the city centre to Frond Square around fifteen centuries ago. Nowadays, Jubilee House was nothing but a historical monument or a tourist attraction. The descendants of King Frond – LEP Corporal Lili Frond's family – maintained Jubilee House in a more or less pristine condition with hired caretakers, but they themselves resided in a modern mansion in one of the exclusive suburbs of Haven.

It was odd, therefore, to find the grassy front lawn overgrown, and the lights off – usually, a few strategically placed bulbs would be left on for the benefit of the passing tourist.

Proceeding cautiously through the overgrown garden, Holly knocked on the front door. At this hour of day, at least one caretaker should be on the premises. They usually only left the house unguarded during the night.

There was a scuffle from inside, and five seconds later a gnome leaped out the window, right into the waiting arms of one of Captain Vein's men.

"Lemme go! Lemme go!" squealed the gnome, squirming and wriggling. "I swear, I wus just taking a break! I wus gonna do it eventually."

"Explain yourself, please", Trouble said, stowing his gun away.

"Say…" the gnome said suspiciously. "You ain't the head caretaker."

Trouble smiled wryly. "Hardly. I'm the Commander of the LEP."

The gnome's eyes bulged. "Sorry, sorry, sir", he apologised quickly. "I didn't know you wus the Commander…didn't recognise you, you see. I thought you wus the head caretaker – he's on vacation, see, an' I wus s'posed to maintain the house while he wus gone. When you knocked on the door, I thought you wus him, 'cause he's the only one that knocks – setting a good example, you see. Anyways, I wondered why he'd come back early, but I wusn't gonna stick around to find out. I've been slacking, see."

"Yes", Trouble said dryly, observing the unkempt lawn.

"Say, you ain't gonna tell him about this, are you?" asked the gnome, scared again. "I didn't mean anything by it – I wus just taking a break, I swear! I swear by the Book!" he exclaimed, afraid his point might not be getting through.

"Okay, okay, relax", said Holly. "We won't say anything if you answer a few questions for us."

The gnome sighed in relief. "Thanks a bunch, Miss." He seemed to think of something, and then his eyes got round and anxious again. "What if I don't know the answers, though? I live on Jewel Street, see – over yonder from here – an' you don't get a lotta action in the Old Quarter."

Holly exchanged a look with Trouble. Jewel Street was one of the three possible locations for Sool.

"That's okay", she told him. "We're interested in Jewel Street – the abandoned warehouse there, in fact."

"The old _Big Bulk _warehouse at the end?"

"Is there more than one warehouse on Jewel Street?" Holly asked warily.

"No, no!" the gnome exclaimed hastily. "There's only one – I wus just making sure, see. What d'you wanna know about it?"

"Has there been any activity in or near it recently?" Trouble inquired. "Strangers hanging around, maybe – or technology being moved in?"

"It don't need no technology", the gnome answered. "The _Big Bulk _fellas were big on modern equipment – computers and security cameras and whatnot. I reckon the place's a mini surveillance room."

"What about the warehouse itself?" asked Holly. "Has anyone seemed particularly interested in it in the past six months?"

The gnome shrugged. "I dunno. My flat's on the upper end of the street, see, an' most days I'm here from dawn till dusk. Been like that for the past two months – head caretaker's on a three-month vacation, you see."

"I see", agreed Trouble. "Thanks for your help. We'll take it from here. Yew, let him go."

The corporal nodded and released the gnome.

"You won't tell, will you?" the caretaker asked anxiously. "I really wus just taking a break."

"Don't worry", said Trouble. "That's not LEP business. This is between you and your employers, but if I were you, I'd trim the garden before the head caretaker gets back."

The gnome nodded fervently and shot off to fire up the lawnmower. Trouble watched him go before turning to his men.

"Let's move out", he ordered.

_**~AF~**_

**Big Bulk Warehouse, Jewel Street**

With his pointed ears twitching and his keen eyes roving all around the warehouse, Ark Sool looked like a man – excuse me, a fairy – who knew what he was doing. And he did. For months he had been planning and deliberating, and now, his pulse quickened as he realised how close he was to his goal. As long as the LEP didn't interfere too much, his plot to become governor of Haven would succeed. But of course, that was just what the LEP didn't plan to do.

"LEP! Hands in the air!" Trouble's strong voice cracked like a whip as they burst through the door. "Sool, come out with your hands where I can see them."

Sool did not waste time cussing. With a jerk of his head, he signaled his _mesmerized _fairies to start shooting. Which they did.

"Sorry, Commander, but no can do", Sool said, raising his voice over the shots that rang out suddenly across the warehouse. "I've been planning this for a long time, and I'm not about to back out now. Goodbye." And with that, he jumped out the window.

"Where's he going?" Holly wondered amid the shooting match she was having with a gnome.

"D'Arvit, Holly, watch your back!" barked Trouble, knocking out an elf. "Neither of us has any magic left, and you only just recovered from a major healing."

Holly checked herself. "Right. Sorry." She took down the gnome she was fighting with, then stunned two other fairies.

It took less than fifteen minutes for the LEP to stun all the _mesmerized _fairies. They were trained in combat; the fairies, however _mesmerized _they were, were not. But the time they used was long enough for Sool to make his getaway, which had no doubt been his plan.

"Foaly, we're bringing the captives in", Trouble said. "Contact Dispatch and tell them to get two transport vans down here. Get a holding cell ready, and ban Sool's pass code from all computers. Then get to work on locating Sool."

"Roger that, Commander", Foaly assented.

"It doesn't make any sense", Holly mused as she cuffed a pair of goblins. "Why would Sool go to all the trouble of kidnapping and _mesmerizing _these fairies, and then just leave them to divert us while he escapes?"

"My guess is he planned to use them for something, but when we busted his hideout, he had to fall back on his backup plan." Trouble straightened and did a quick head count. "Twenty-five. That's all of them."

"He had a backup plan?" queried Holly.

"He must have, the way he willingly left without his troop."

"Transport vans are on their way, Commander", Foaly's voice crackled from Trouble's helmet. "They should be there within ten minutes or so."

"Roger that", said Trouble. "Yuril, Frell, you're with me. You too, Holly. When those vans get here, we're going to ship the victims all back to Police Plaza. Captain Vein, you and the rest of your team search the building, see if you can find anything. Oh, and Foaly…" he added into his mike, "…send a tech team to the warehouse. There are a lot of computers around here."

* * *

**_A/N: Hmm, things are definitely heating up...Why are you guys asking about Yolande? She's a really minor character who was used to divert attention from Ark Sool. Use your imagination to figure out what happened to her. I can't answer absolutely _**_everything**, can I? Thank you to **dimka-roza-belikova, Rexxor88, Slip On Ice, **and **ghostsaliensteletubbiesohmy **for reviewing!**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_Artemis Fowl.__**  
**_


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Chapter Sixteen **

**Ops Booth, Police Plaza**

Working overtime for weeks on end was not what Foaly had had in mind when he'd accepted the position of Chief Technical Consultant for the LEP over eighty years ago. And yet, that was exactly what he found himself doing time after time – more frequently, in fact, since Artemis had come into the picture. The LEP was not exactly the most regular job around; when it was necessary, whether you were on vacation or not, you got called in. Still, Foaly wouldn't trade it for anything – and it was moments like these when he knew why.

"Got it!" he crowed as he finished decoding the encrypted data the tech team had pulled off the hard drives in the computers in the warehouse.

"That was fast", Root commented, looking over the centaur's shoulder.

"Sool's encryption was very low-tech", Foaly responded, positively radiating smugness. "Security level 4 – the highest that can be installed without getting approval from yours truly. I pulled down his firewall easily enough, and there you go – detailed information on all his plots, as well as the blueprints for his latest plan. He was quite organised – not to mention thorough – he kept video records of most of his exploits. Might help us figure out how to break the _mesmer _on the twenty-five fairies if we see how he brought them so completely under his control."

"Any luck finding Sool himself?" Root asked.

"No, not yet, but it's only a matter of time. After all, there's only so many places he can hide. I've red-flagged his heat signature on all the computers in Haven and sent out a public message; if he tries to go aboveground or get a shuttle to Atlantis, we'll know about it."

Artemis studied the information displayed on Foaly's computer thoughtfully. His sharp eyes took in every detail, read every word, noted every link. His quick brain ran through the events of the past seventy-two hours, and compared them with the happenings six months prior and the details Holly had updated him with. And he noticed a discrepancy in the plans at the same time he remembered a fact that had slipped everyone else's mind.

"Two things", he said, his face solemn. "Firstly, has anyone else noticed a pattern to Sool's plans?"

Puzzled, Foaly scanned through the gigabytes of data. "No", he admitted.

"Yes", Root growled. "Every one involves him getting reinstated as Commander of LEPrecon or elevated to a higher position."

"So that's why he's doing it!" exclaimed Foaly. "I wondered about that. So we've got another Cudgeon on our hands?"

"Hardly", said Artemis. "Cudgeon was not as methodical as Sool is, and Sool is not foolish enough to seek help from Opal Koboi. But that's not the pattern I was talking about. Do you see how his plans get increasingly aggressive? He started by trying to appeal to the Council for reinstatement. Then he moved on to flattering his superiors in hope of a promotion – nothing illegal. Then he gradually got more aggressive and lawless in his planning – first, manipulation, then blackmail, then staged evidence, and so on and so forth. Then the bomb six months ago. That could have been his peak, but I doubt it. Each of his plots got progressively more forceful. There's no reason to expect this one to be any different. And yet, the plot outlined here is surprisingly tame. Declaiming the council with fake witnesses is unethical and illegal, it's true, but it's a step down from his previous plan to bomb Haven. This deceleration does not fit with his pattern."

Foaly meticulously checked through the information. "You're right", he agreed. "It doesn't fit."

"So are you saying that whatever he has planned now is even worse than the hydro-bomb six months ago?" asked Root.

"Yes", replied Artemis. "It's not just _mesmerizing _the fairies. There's something more to this."

"Then why the blazes isn't it described here?" Root demanded.

"He's being careful", Artemis answered. "After so many failed plots, Sool knows he can't afford to assume that everything's going to go according to plan. So he decided to break his pattern a bit. He's formulated two plans and prepared for both of them. Whichever one didn't work would be the one he abandoned to divert us from the other. In this case, he left the _mesmerized _fairies to occupy us while he implements his other plan – which I'm willing to bet is something equal in violence to the hydro-bomb."

"Wonderful", grumbled Root. "So what can we do? We have no clue what this second plan is, and Foaly can't find him."

"Yet", Foaly added, miffed. Then something seemed to occur to him. "Wait a minute", he said. "Artemis, you started this conversation with the phrase, 'Two things'. The first is Sool's pattern and formulation of two plans. What's the second?"

Artemis looked grave. "Wasn't Mulch supposed to be in the Old Quarter with Holly and Trouble? Has anyone heard from him?"

There was a shocked silence in the booth as all three occupants realised that no, they had not heard from Mulch.

_**~AF~**_

**Big Bulk Warehouse, Jewel Street**

After carting the twenty-five _mesmerized _fairies to the holding cells (and after Trouble had personally increased the security clearance on each of the fairies' cells), Holly, Trouble, and the other two LEP officers who had accompanied them had all returned to the warehouse to help Captain Vein search. So far, they had found nothing of interest. Only the technical team had seemed excited when they copied data from the computers' hard drives.

Holly was flipping through a folder when the call came.

"What is it, Foaly?"

"It's Artemis, Holly."

"Oh, sorry. What's up, Artemis?"

"Holly, have you heard from Mulch?"

Holly frowned and put the folder aside. "No, I haven't", she said slowly. "Wasn't he supposed to be here?"

"Yes, he was", replied Artemis. "He's missing. And that's not the only problem. Sool's planned something more than a group of false witnesses declaiming the Council, something for him to fall back on when you caught up with him. I think it's likely to be more violent than the hydro-bomb last year."

"What could possibly be more violent than that?" exclaimed Holly.

"Maybe not violent so much as elaborate", Artemis amended.

"That still doesn't answer my question."

Just then a familiar voice called from outside. "Yo! Holly! Call out the cavalry, we've got a problem."

"Er, Artemis", said Holly, "Mulch is right here."

"Where has he been?"

"I'll let you know once I find out. Talk to you later." Holly ended the call and ventured outside to find Trouble scolding Mulch.

"Where have you been, Diggums?" he reprimanded the dwarf. "You were supposed to be here two hours ago!"

"I was on my way, but I came across something that looked like it needed looking into, so I investigated", answered Mulch. "And good thing for you I did, too. Have you any _idea _what Sool's been doing right under our noses?"

"I'm assuming you're not talking about the _mesmerized _fairies."

"No, I'm not. This is something different entirely – something worse."

"Well, what is it?" Holly asked. "Spit it out, Mulch, we don't have much time."

"Spot on, Holly, spot on", Mulch agreed, looking a little wild around the eyes. "Remember the dwarf-goblin street fight in Frond Square a few hours ago?"

"Yeah", said Trouble. "They caused a huge commotion. I assigned three LEP units to take charge of that."

"Turns out Sool's _mesmerized _fairies arranged that, and it wasn't just a diversion, either. They were setting us up for the real purpose. Sool just unearthed a huge bomb right in the middle of the Square. He's blocked the exits. No one can get out, and the bomb's set to blow in thirty minutes."

* * *

_**A/N: Another bomb! We're getting pretty close to the climax here, readers. This is the final conflict, but don't worry, it will span several more chapters. Until tomorrow, then! Thank you **fergie4000, djAdysa, Unknown, ghostsaliensteletubbiesohmy, **and **KusajishiFuktaicho **for reviewing!**_

**Disclaimer: I plan on being a best-selling author, but I'm not quite there yet. Eoin Colfer is, however, with **_Artemis Fowl. _**Artemis belongs to him.**_**  
**_


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Frond Square, Haven**

"Major Wydon, there's something happening in the middle of the square", one of the corporals reported.

"What is it?" Wydon asked.

The elf gulped. "I think you'd better see for yourself", he said.

Concerned, Wydon followed the corporal to the middle of the square, where a large section of earth was displacing itself, shaking soil off the slim, silver cylinder that was rising out of the earth.

"What in Frond's name is _that_?" Wydon exclaimed.

"Major, I uh, I think…I think it's a bomb", the corporal said timidly.

"A bomb? Why wasn't it detected earlier on the radar sweeps?"

"Er…" the elf trailed off; he had no idea.

"That's because it's not made of anything that would show up on radar", a different voice answered. Wydon spun around to see Ark Sool emerging from the throng of fairies.

"Private Sool", he greeted, wary now. Everyone knew Sool was bitter over his demotion.

Sool scowled at the mention of his low rank, but he smoothed his expression. "Major", he said.

"What do you mean by that?" Wydon inquired, referring to Sool's earlier statement.

"The bomb's encased in a thick sheath of gravium metal. Gravium is virtually undetectable", Sool answered.

Wydon frowned. "I thought the Council banned gravium three hundred years ago."

"They might have, but that doesn't stop smugglers and criminals from digging it up where they can find it", Sool pointed out amiably. "There's been a roaring trade in gravium smuggling since the banning decree."

"D'Arvit!" cursed Wydon. "What's the timer on that thing?"

"Thirty minutes, but I could detonate it any time before that with this." Sool held up a detonator control.

Wydon stared at it for several seconds before the penny dropped. Then he abruptly started shouting.

"Falcon! Ramez! Rivera! Start evacuating the square immediately!" he yelled. "We've got a bomb!"

"Too late, Major", said Sool with a smirk. "I've triggered the force field barricades to all the exits. No one's getting out."

"What about you, then?" asked Wydon. "Are you going to kill yourself by detonating the bomb?"

"No." Sool's snide smile widened. "I reprogrammed the force fields very simply. They'll let anything in, but not out. The only person who can pass through to get out is me, because I wired my DNA code into the system. So…" Sool's grin was positively wicked. "Checkmate."

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Wydon lunged for the detonator in Sool's hand.

**_~AF~_**

**Somewhere between Big Bulk Warehouse and Frond Square**

"Attention, all LEP members", Trouble spoke into his communicator while Holly manoeuvred their shuttle. "We have a hostage situation involving LEP units in Frond Square, with a bomb set to detonate in twenty-six minutes. The perpetrator is Private Ark Sool. I repeat, Ark Sool is holding Frond Square hostage with a bomb. I need all LEP to report to the perimeter, but do not go inside the square itself."

"Roger that, Commander", replied several different LEP officers.

"Holly, how fast can we get there?" Trouble asked.

Holly checked the speedometer before answering. "Five minutes", she replied, stepping on the accelerator and causing everyone in the shuttle (including Mulch and Captain Vein's team) to fall over. Trouble didn't complain, though – time was of the essence here.

**_~AF~_**

**Ops Booth**

"D'Arvit, D'Arvit, D'Arvit!" swore Foaly, typing furiously into several different keyboards at once.

"Stop swearing, centaur, and give me a straight answer. Do you or do you not know how to defuse the bomb?" demanded Root.

"No!" shouted Foaly. "At least not yet. Give me some time."

"We don't have time, Foaly!"

"I know!" Foaly yelled back, frustrated. "I'm under pressure here, okay? I'm doing the best I can."

"Calm down, Foaly; brain functions are limited when one panics", Artemis advised. "What do we know about the bomb?"

"Absolutely nothing!" Foaly exclaimed. "Gravium is completely undetectable on radar, and my traffic cameras can't pick up anything much off it."

"But we know it is encased in gravium", Artemis pointed out. "That's something. What can you tell me about gravium?"

"It's an element that was discovered about five hundred years ago", Foaly replied. "When tests determined that it was virtually undetectable to technology, the LEP started using it to encase important objects and to line safes. But then criminals began to use it for illegal activities, and that made it more difficult for the LEP to catch them. Gravium was eventually banned from use by the Council. It's been illegal for over three hundred years now."

"Okay", said Artemis. "That's a start. What about its chemical properties? What column of the Periodic Table would it be classified in?"

"Column IIA, I think", said Foaly.

"Where in Column IIA?"

"Right at the bottom", Foaly replied. "Atomic number 120. Very reactive, but surprisingly stable."

Artemis wanted to ask how they had discovered gravium, but now was not the time. A small part of his mind did note, however, that if gravium was number 120, there must be other elements that had yet to be discovered. Root, of course, understood nothing of this.

"Valence 2, I presume?" Artemis questioned.

"Yes."

"If it's in Column IIA, then it's an alkaline-earth metal", Artemis deduced. "Is it flammable?"

"Very."

"Let's see…" Artemis mused, beginning to pace. "It seems to be similar in composition to magnesium, which means that theoretically, it should react to other elements the same way magnesium does. How much ready chloride do you have available?" he asked suddenly.

"Several litres", was the reply. "There's a fissure in an old mine that leaks chloride gas. The mine has since become our chloride supplier."

"If we can initiate a chemical reaction between the gravium casing and the chloride, we should be able to form a harmless salt", concluded Artemis.

"Gravium chloride?" Foaly queried. "I see your point. If we can get enough of the gravium to convert to gravium chloride, we should be able to see how the bomb is constructed. It can't be anything too complicated since it's so completely cloaked by the gravium, so if we work fast, we should be able to release the combustive agents or deactivate the ignitor."

"Exactly." Artemis turned to a computer. "How fast can we get to your chloride mine?"

* * *

_**A/N: Dun-dun-dun! Thank you to **Rexxor88, DaughterofHecate, ZeZe123, ghostsaliensteletubbiesohmy, **and **Aneira Crimson **for reviewing!**_

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own **_Artemis Fowl.__**  
**_


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter Eighteen **

**Ops Booth**

"You're going to do what?" Holly demanded.

"We're going to try to get the gravium casing to react with chloride gas", Artemis explained. "Foaly's prepping his molecular scrambler right now."

"He's _what_?" exclaimed Holly. "Put him on."

"He's somewhat busy at the moment, Holly."

_"Put. Him. On."_

Artemis put Foaly on. No one argued with Holly when she used that tone. The minute the centaur said, "Holly?" into the communicator, she started arguing with him.

"Foaly, you know very well the molecular scrambler is still experimental", she pointed out. "A very early experimental, as a matter of fact. Why in Frond's name are you risking it?"

"It's the fastest way to get to the chloride mine", Foaly defended.

"Not if it throws your atoms in ten different directions", Holly hissed. "Foaly, it's dangerous. Very, very risky. And you want to use it twice? On two people?"

"It will work, Holly", Foaly said confidently. "I made some last-minute modifications. It will set the development back several years, but it should hold the scrambler together long enough for Julius and Artemis to make it to the chloride mine, siphon the gas, and get to Frond Square. The whole process should only take ten minutes – fifteen, at the most. We don't have time to try anything else."

Holly sighed. "Put Artemis back on."

Foaly obligingly did so, and resumed work on the hourglass-shaped metal bauble that would – in theory – transport Artemis and Root to the chloride mine with a gas canister and siphon within the span of less than a minute.

"Yes, Holly?" Artemis said.

"You do know this is risky, don't you?" she asked.

"I do, Holly, but I trust Foaly. And he's right; we don't have much time. How long more do we have before the bomb goes off?"

"Twenty minutes", Holly admitted. She paused. "Be careful, Artemis. I don't want to lose you again."

"I will, Holly", Artemis promised. "I'll see you in fifteen minutes."

"What was that?" demanded Root the moment Holly had signed off.

Artemis was puzzled. "I'm not sure what you mean, Julius. I was merely reassuring Holly that we would be safe."

"Sure you were", grumbled Root. "In a tone that makes it clear you're telling her something more."

"I don't follow you, Julius", said Artemis, even as his ears got hot as he remembered the kiss he had shared with Holly when they retrieved Jayjay the lemur from the past. Jayjay the lemur, he realised with a jolt, who had been named after Julius Root.

"It's ready!" announced Foaly, saving Artemis further embarrassment as he handed the scrambler to Root. "Do you have your gas masks?"

Artemis pulled his mask over his face while Root did the same. "Affirmative."

"The canister?"

Artemis grabbed the clear Perspex container-and-tube ensemble from the counter. "Check."

"Okay, Julius, to activate the scrambler, very carefully press the two ends together", Foaly instructed. "I've already keyed in the coordinates. Your first squeeze will take you to the mine, but don't press it a second time unless you're ready to go to Frond Square. You got that?"

"I've got it, Foaly", said Root. "Here goes nothing." And he pressed the two ends of the hourglass together.

**_~AF~_**

**Frond Square**

Holly skidded to a stop near a flower shop just outside the edge of Frond Square. She was out of the shuttle before the vehicle had finished shutting down completely, as were the other passengers.

"Captain Jay!" Trouble hailed one of the LEP officers who were congregated outside the square. "Status report."

"We've got approximately nineteen minutes left on the timer, Commander", Jay reported. "Major Wydon tried to get the detonator away from Sool, but he was unsuccessful. Some of the officers managed to corner Sool down Elm Road after he exited the square, but he's threatening to detonate the bomb if we arrest him. It's tricky even maintaining an enclosure around him to make sure he doesn't escape."

Trouble groaned. "If I know Sool, it won't be long until he demands to be released. We need to get that detonator away from him."

"Understood, Commander. I have some of my people working on it."

"Tell me more about the force field", said Trouble. "I gather that Sool's the only one who can pass through it?"

"Yes, sir, but only to go out. Anyone can get in, but only Sool can get out."

"Meaning that if we send anymore people in there, we'll have more fairies trapped in the square."

"Yes, sir", confirmed Captain Jay.

"Keep the civilians out", Trouble ordered. "We don't need anymore innocent lives in jeopardy."

"Yes, sir." Captain Jay knew that wouldn't be very hard to do. The citizens who were free were giving Frond Square a wide berth without any urging from the LEP. News had spread, and no one wanted to be in range of the bomb when it blew.

"Captain Vein, I need you to handle the Sool situation", directed Trouble. "Holly can't do it, and neither can I. Sool's got a personal vendetta against us. You, on the other hand, he has nothing against. Not personally, anyway. So talk to him. Try to negotiate something. We're not granting him amnesty after everything he's done – but maybe we could shorten his prison term or something. Just stall him and keep him busy so he won't detonate that bomb early. Or better yet, get that detonator away from him, if you can."

"Yes, sir." Captain Vein saluted and took off.

"We have to stall Sool until Artemis gets here", Holly said once Vein was out of earshot.

"Holly, we don't have any guarantee that Artemis's plan will work", said Trouble.

"It will", Holly stated confidently. "It always does."

"You have a lot of faith in that Mud Boy", Trouble observed.

"She's got good reason", Mulch interjected. "Artemis is right most of the time."

"Okay", Trouble said resignedly. "We'll stall…Holly, where are you going?"

"Under that shield", Holly replied. "I'm going to see if I can delay that timer."

"Holly, are you insane?" Trouble demanded in alarm. "It's too dangerous. I'm not letting you go in there."

"I have to try", Holly argued. "Wydon has training – he'll help me. We need to give Artemis as much time as possible."

Mulch gulped before adding hesitantly, "I'll come with you. I might be able to burrow under the bomb or something."

Trouble looked from Holly to Mulch with alarm written all over his face. "Absolutely not!" he exclaimed. "Neither of you are going in. I can't afford to lose anyone if we can't stop the bomb. No one's going in. That's an order."

"I'm not LEP, Trouble", Mulch pointed out. "You can't tell me what to do."

"And you know I'm not averse to disregarding orders when the situation demands it", added Holly. "We're going in to do what we can, Trouble."

Trouble took a deep breath and sighed heavily. He knew he wouldn't be able to sway Holly now. "All right, then", he gave in. "Go. And good luck."

Holly nodded solemnly and slipped under the shield with Mulch.

* * *

_**A/N: Climax, climax! Not quite yet, though it's preeetty close by now. The climax is in Chapter 22, coming in a few more days. See you guys tomorrow! Thanks to **dimka-roza-belikova **and **ZeZe123 **for reviewing!**_

**Disclaimer: Me, own Artemis Fowl? Nope.**_**  
**_


	20. Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter Nineteen**

**Elm Road, just outside Frond Square**

"Stay back!" Sool exclaimed. He held up the detonator, his thumb on the trigger. "I'm warning you, one more step and I'll blow the square to Frond's kingdom!"

"Hey, just calm down", one LEP private said. "You don't want to do this, Sool. There are innocent people in there."

"I don't really care anymore", Sool retorted.

"Maybe not, but do you care about your freedom?" Captain Vein asked as he rounded the corner. "Put the detonator away, Sool, and then we'll talk."

"I want my post back", Sool insisted stubbornly. "You people had no right to demote me."

"It was the Council's decision", Vein pointed out.

Sool snorted. "The Council was persuaded by Kelp, Foaly, and Vinyáya. Cahartez was all for letting the demons die out too. He recognised the threat they would pose to Haven. But when I say as much, I get demoted and almost drummed out of the force altogether! Pah!"

Vein cast a calculating eye on Sool, trying to see if he could get the detonator away. It was no good. Sool could press the trigger faster than an LEP officer could grab it.

"Listen, Sool", said Vein, "I'm authorised to negotiate with you about this. I'm sure we could work something out regarding the sentence you're sure to get if you don't deactivate the bomb."

"It can't be deactivated", Sool corrected. "I made sure of that. No one's stopping me this time."

"Okay." Vein paused a moment to redirect. "What is this about, Sool?"

"I want commandership back", Sool said. "I was appointed to that post fair and square by the Council, and my demotion was completely undeserved."

"Okay", Vein said again. "But how does this help you? Everyone knows by now that you're responsible for the bomb. They're not going to accept your position even if we do reinstate you as commander."

"That's where the beauty of my plan comes in", Sool said smugly. "You're not going to reinstate me as commander in Haven. You're going to appoint me commander of the Atlantis LEP branch. I hear the post is empty at the moment. Obviously, you're also not going to say one word of this to anyone in Atlantis. If you do, I'll plant another bomb."

"But you know the Council will never agree to that", Vein pointed out. "Cahartez may have supported you before, but he won't after that bomb goes off – since, as you say, it can't be deactivated."

"I don't have to explain myself to you", Sool sniffed. "I have my own plans. Promise me amnesty and the position of Atlantis LEP Commander, and then I'll talk."

"I don't have the authority to do that."

"Well, then, you'll just have to ask Commander Kelp, won't you?" Sool said maddeningly. "Or better yet, Cahartez himself. I'm not budging a centimetre until my demands have been granted."

Vein was only half paying attention to what Sool was saying. His focus was on the detonator in the gnome's hand. All through their conversation, Sool's thumb on the trigger had slowly been relaxing as his attention was diverted by Vein. Vein now saw an opportunity to wrest that controller away from Sool.

He took it.

_**~AF~**_

**Chloride Mine, Somewhere in Haven**

The chloride mine was a former dwarf establishment which had had to be abandoned when a fissure in the earth opened and started leaking chloride. Now the mine was full of the poisonous green gas, though if anyone fancied digging here, there was still gold to be found.

Into this green-smoked area two beings were being assembled from an atomic level. It was very quick. In less than thirty seconds, Artemis Fowl and Julius Root were standing in the mine. The former looked almost as green as the chloride gas.

"That…was…highly unpleasant", Artemis remarked, feeling nauseated.

"That is what happens when you scramble your molecules and take them apart only to shoot them at the speed of light to be reassembled at some predetermined destination", corrected Root. He did not seem to be as affected by the experience as Artemis was.

"You're surprisingly unaffected by the effects of the scrambler device", Artemis noted. "Have you done this before?"

"Yes, and so have you", Root responded. "Traveling through time, remember?"

"Yet you are the only one who is not affected. I wonder…" Artemis stroked his chin, recovered from his brief bout of nausea. "It would seem that while time travel is supposed to be instantaneous, there is some measure of distance and time in limbo. Apparently, the farther ahead or farther back you jump, the longer you are in limbo. That's an interesting paradox that would explain why you are more accustomed to this mode of travel than I am."

"How very fascinating", Root observed sarcastically. "But we don't have time to theorize about time travel now, Mud Boy. Activate the siphon already."

"You're right", Artemis agreed as he pressed a button on the collecting device.

There was a whirring sound, and the tube he was holding out began to vacuum the chloride into the attached container, which soon became filled with green gas. Artemis allowed the siphon to continue sucking until he was certain they had as much as they could hold, and then he pressed the button again to switch it off.

"It's ready", he announced. "Foaly, do you copy?"

"I hear you, Artemis", Foaly's voice answered from the communicator. "I'm transmuting the catalysts into photon packages right now. They should be ready to be emitted from the sun strips over Frond Square by the time you're ready to release the gas."

"Copy that, Foaly." Artemis nodded at Root. "All right, Julius, let's get to Frond Square."

With a "hmph", Root pressed the two ends of the hourglass together. As their molecules dispersed once more, he remarked, "You know, Fowl, you're getting to be very free with my name."

* * *

_**A/N: Yeah, I know it's short, but I don't pay much attention to chapter lengths. To me, a chapter is for communicating a specific idea. Once that idea has been conveyed satisfactorily, the chapter has served its purpose and there is no point extending it further, because a new chapter is needed to present a new idea. And...I'm rambling. Thanks to **dimka-roza-belikova **and **Slip On Ice **for reviewing the last chapter!**_

**Disclaimer: Eoin Colfer's chapters in the **_Artemis Fowl _**books are rather long. Mine are short. Put that together and what do you get?**_**  
**_


	21. Chapter Twenty

**Chapter Twenty **

**Frond Square**

Mulch shook dirt off himself as he tunneled his way back to the surface. With a final burst of wind from his posterior to dislodge the remaining soil, he stood up.

"Nothing", he reported. "Sool sealed the bomb well and truly."

"So there's absolutely nothing we can make use of?" asked Holly. "No cracks, no holes?"

"Well, there was one tiny opening near the centre of the bottom", Mulch amended.

"Wydon?" Holly inquired.

Wydon frowned. "No, that's no good. We don't have tools here, and anyway, we wouldn't be able to fit anything through there."

"Unless they're as small as an insect", Mulch added.

"But we do", said Holly. "Or, we might."

"What are you talking about?" asked Wydon.

"Foaly's got electronic bugs in sizes which are almost microscopic", Holly explained. "If we can inject one with a virus and get it through, we might be able to shut the bomb down."

"We might", Wydon allowed. "It's worth a shot."

"Foaly", Holly said into her helmet, "is it possible to inject one of your Micro-bugs with a virus?"

"Why?"

"Mulch found a small hole in the bottom of the casing that would fit a bug. If it's got a virus uploaded into its database, we might be able to infect the bomb mechanism and shut it down."

Foaly sounded apologetic as he replied. "In that case, no, it's not possible. Micro-bugs are too small to hold much data other than what they already contain. The type of virus needed to shut down the bomb would take up too much space, and reconfiguring the bug would take more time than we have."

Hiding her anxiety, Holly responded, "That's okay, Foaly, I was just wondering. What's the status on Artemis and Julius?"

"They're collecting the chloride gas at the moment – oh, hold on, they're done. They just activated the scrambler a second time. They should be there within a minute or so."

Holly sighed with relief. "Copy that. Keep an eye on the bomb, Foaly, and warn us if it's about to blow."

"Will do. Good luck."

"No luck with the Micro-bug idea?" questioned Wydon.

"Nope. But Ar–I mean, our ace should be here soon."

"Ace?" Wydon looked suspicious. "What's the ace?"

Holly smiled and said nothing, leaving Wydon wondering just what she knew.

**_~AF~_**

**Elm Road**

After a brief, intense scuffle, Captain Vein managed to wrest the detonator away from Sool. With a quick move of his hand, he threw it onto the pavement and crushed it under his foot. Sool sprang up from the ground with a disappointed expression on his face.

"There goes my leverage", he remarked sourly. "But no matter. The bomb will self-detonate in less than ten minutes."

"That doesn't help you get your demands granted, you know", Vein pointed out.

"True", Sool allowed, "But Captain, this is just as much about revenge as anything else. If I gain nothing but some measure of vengeance, I will be satisfied."

"Vengeance against whom?" Vein questioned. "None of the people in Frond Square have offended you personally enough to mitigate this sort of reaction."

"Are you sure about that, Captain?" Sool asked smugly. "Have you checked the square recently?"

Suspicious, Vein contacted Trouble to ask exactly who was in the square, and got a quick run-down of all LEP personnel trapped inside.

"Understood, Commander", Vein acquiesced. He shut off the call and glared at the smirking Sool. "How did you know Major Short would enter the square?"

"Psychology", Sool replied. "I took a personal interest in Holly Short, as you may well imagine. I filched her psych records and read through them to understand how she would react to my plans. So I knew she would never let something like this pass without trying to help the citizens. She's too noble for that." Sool finished with a snide grin.

Vein had trouble holding on to his temper. Holly Short was a respected officer in the LEP, despite past events, and here Sool was callously chatting about how he set her up for certain death. Not to mention all the other LEP members in the square, as well as all the innocent civilians. To prevent himself from saying something totally cliché, like, "You won't get away with this" or, "We will never surrender to your threats", he opted to channel his actions down a more productive path.

"Arrest him", he growled at the LEP officer next to him.

Sool scowled as the private cuffed him before he could get away. "Really now, Captain, that doesn't do anything for you."

"Shut up", Vein told him. "When this is over, we'll deal with you. For now…" he signaled the private. "Take him to the detention cells, and make sure he can't get out. Up the clearance to captain."

"Um, I'm not a captain…" the private began.

Vein waved his objection aside. "You don't have to be captain to up the cell's clearance. If you have to, ask Foaly to do it, but make sure Sool doesn't get loose. He's caused enough trouble."

"Yes, sir", agreed the private.

"Oh, and in case you didn't notice", Vein added to Sool, "you've just been stripped of your rank and your LEP membership. You're no longer a part of any branch of the force."

Sool glowered at him and muttered darkly about revenge and more threats, but Vein wasn't paying any attention to him. The private began to lead him away with his buzz baton in hand, but before he could, an excited sprite came flying onto the scene, hovering a good two feet in the air.

"Captain, Captain!" the sprite exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Vein queried.

The sprite was unable to speak for a moment; he seemed to be struggling with his words. "It's – gods, Captain – I've never seen anything like it!" he cried. "It's just so…impossible…"

"Quite babbling, Lieutenant, and tell me what you're so worked up about", demanded Vein.

The sprite heaved a deep breath and swallowed several times before he was composed enough to speak coherently. "It's the square, Captain, they're at the square."

"Who is?" Vein asked. "For Frond's sake, Lieutenant, give me a straight answer already. _Who's _at the square and _why _is it impossible?"

"It's impossible because they're dead", the sprite replied, still stunned. "Artemis Fowl and Commander Julius Root just appeared in Frond Square."

* * *

_**A/N: Well, Artemis and Root are in play! Now, I'm in a hurry, so thanks to the five users who reviewed. I'm sorry I can't acknowledge you up here at the moment, but I appreciate your reviews!**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_Artemis Fowl.__**  
**_


	22. Chapter Twenty One

**Chapter Twenty-One**

**Frond Square**

When Major Wydon saw Artemis Fowl materialise in the middle of the square, his first thought was, _Oh, great, the Mud Boy's involved again._ Then he remembered that Artemis had died saving Haven from an explosion more than six months prior and his expression became one of utter amazement and disbelief. That was just about when he noticed his dead commander Julius Root standing next to the assumed-dead Mud Boy. Then he saw Mulch's grin, and saw Holly's face suddenly light up in a radiant smile of hope.

"This is our ace?" he hissed at her. "Ghosts?"

Holly frowned. "They're not ghosts", she denied. "They're really there. Julius and Artemis survived the explosions. They got thrown through time instead of dying."

"Gods", was all Wydon could think of to say. Who would have thought this would happen?

Ignoring the shouts and cries of shock, Artemis and Root came over to Holly. Root was carrying the hourglass-shaped scrambler, which was sparking and sizzling; and Artemis was holding a container that was filled with green gas.

"Is that the chloride?" asked Holly.

"It is", Artemis confirmed. "How much time do we have?"

Holly glanced at the holographic timer on the bomb. "Four minutes", she replied, not as hopeful as before. That was such a short time.

"It should be enough. We just need to wait until Foaly has finished uploading the catalysts into the sun strips. It shouldn't be much longer."

"Foaly is already done", the centaur's voice informed him over the speakers in Holly's helmet. "Shall I release the catalysts?"

"On my signal", agreed Artemis, one hand on the lid of the Perspex canister, ready to flip it open. "One, two, three!"

Artemis yanked the lid open at the same moment that the sun strips overhead darkened and changed colour, emitting a strange brownish light rather than their usual bright yellow. While the green gas coalesced around the cylindrical bomb, the brown light shone down on Frond Square, triggering a chemical reaction between the chloride gas and the gravium metal. As the astounded citizens and LEP members watched (Ark Sool and Captain Vein included), the gravium near the top of the bomb started to crystallise, fading into a white, brittle substance that crumbled when its weight became too much for it to maintain its shape. The transformation continued downwards, rippling and spreading throughout the gravium, showering grains of mineral salt onto the people nearby.

"Yes!" came Foaly's voice from Holly's helmet. "It's working!"

As more gravium reacted with the chloride and more salt flaked off, the bomb's inner structures became exposed, showing their components.

"Looks like a heat-powered mechanical bomb", Foaly commented. "Low-tech. I should be able to pull the circuits apart without any trouble - given enough time. But how under the earth is he casting the force field shield? He must have circumvented the security systems and rewired them somehow…"

Holly ignored Foaly's musings and concentrated on the reaction. Glancing anxiously at the timer, she saw that they had only two and a half minutes left. She was suddenly struck by a sense of déjà vu. This was almost identical to the situation in Technical Support six months ago. Would it have a far worse outcome than that had had?

The chloride-gravium reaction slowed as it reached the halfway mark of the cylinder, and eventually stopped as all the chloride gas was used up. The bottom half of the bomb was still encased in gravium, but the top half had crumbled away as gravium chloride salt, leaving exposed a mass of circuitry and mechanisms above an uneven, jagged line of metal.

"Two minutes", Holly breathed, her eyes locked on the timer. "Whatever you're doing, Artemis, you'd better do it fast."

Artemis nodded tersely, his former confidence gone. He had not expected the reaction to eat up so much time. Even one minute was a lot to lose when they didn't have much to spare.

"Foaly, do you recognise the structure?" he asked.

"It's a standard, albeit large, version of the Mechano 2.0", Foaly responded. "It was invented centuries ago, around the time humans first discovered gunpowder. It's hardly in use anymore – the tech's obsolete – but for purposes like this, a few models are still circulating."

"What are its weaknesses?"

"Artemis, I could go on and on about the shortcomings of this bomb." Over the communication channel, Foaly's voice was suddenly strained. "The hydro-bomb last year surpasses it by far. Even human atom bombs are better than this. The main problem here would be trying to access the weak points – they're usually buried deep within, and I don't doubt that Sool implemented some extra protection for the really sensitive parts…"

"Focus, Foaly!" cried Holly, interrupting him. Trust Foaly to get all technical in the middle of a time-sensitive crisis.

"I am!" Foaly shot back. "I'm thinking aloud so I can concentrate!" He sounded stressed, as if the realisation of how little time there was left had finally caught up to him. "The red wire is the main conductor, so it's always a weak point, and so is the fuse ignitor and the combustive container…one hole and it all stops…but how can we reach it?...with so little time…can somebody stop that timer!" he exclaimed.

"How?" Holly asked, scanning the exposed wires. Her usual calmness and clear-thinking in dangerous situations were failing her; the sense of déjà vu was too strong, too worrying – what if Artemis died again, for good this time? And Julius, and Trouble, and everyone else…Grub, Vein, Wydon, herself…

Holly Short was panicking.

Root, on the other hand, had already faced death once, and come out alive. He was not fazed now, only spurred on by a need to protect the citizens of Haven. He was no longer commander, but he was still LEP; this was what he did. His quick eyes noted the structure of the timer, traced the path of the wires, saw the connections and links…

Moving faster than anyone could react, he grabbed Holly's Neutrino from her numb hand and fired a quick charge with sure aim born of decades of field work and target practice. The electric volley struck true; it hit a wire, overloading it, breaking it…and then the timer stopped.

No one moved for a short while, instead staring at the glowing numbers which had frozen at the one minute mark. It was too early for celebration, though; within the span of two heartbeats – even though it seemed an eternity to the watching crowd – the timer restarted, but it was significantly slower this time – about half as fast as its former speed, Artemis guessed.

"Work fast, Foaly", Root grunted, returning Holly's Neutrino. "I bought you another minute, but that's all we have."

The urgency in her former commander's firm voice jolted Holly back to reality. She shook her head once, and then she was herself again.

"Foaly, where's the red wire? The one that conducts the electrical charge to combust the flammable materials?" she asked.

"That would be that big one, right at the top", Foaly replied. "See it twisted around several other wires?"

Holly examined the tangled mass of wires. "I see it."

"You need to split it, Holly. Cut it completely. I don't see how you can do that with the materials you have. Neutrino blasts won't work – they'll only initiate the explosion. Perhaps we can find another point…"

"There's no time, Foaly!" Holly snapped. "Mulch! I need some of your hair."

The dwarf stepped forward hesitantly, offering his beard. With deft fingers, Holly curved two strands of hair in on each other, creating a makeshift boomerang as she yanked it out from the roots.

"Ow", Mulch complained. Holly ignored him. Stepping back, she took aim and flung her boomerang at the red wire.

Time seemed to slow down as the stiffened dwarf hairs arced through the air, spinning so fast it was a blur. It sliced through the red wire easily and clunked into the earthen wall behind the bomb as the wire sizzled with electricity and broke apart.

Everyone held their breath as the timer ticked down. If Holly had done it right, the bomb wouldn't explode when time ran out.

Ten seconds…nine, eight…

"Let it work, let it work, let it work", Mulch pleaded fervently.

Six, five, four…

Holly sucked in a gulp of air and clenched Artemis's hand tightly.

Two, one…

Everybody squeezed their eyes shut and flinched away; Artemis hugged Holly close to him.

Zero.

* * *

_**A/N: So what will it be? A big boom or nothing spectacular? A moderate reaction rather than the feared full-scale explosion? Ah! You'll just have to wait and see. I apologise for misinformation, by the way - I said the climax was in Chapter 22, when really it's here, at the end of Chapter 21. Chapter 22 starts the denouement, which ends after the epilogue. And I was in too much of a hurry to remark - or even notice - it before, but yesterday the hundred-review mark was broken! I can't believe it! Thank you to all who contributed, and of course thank you to last chapter's reviewers **mischievous101, dimka-roza-belikova, ghostsaliensteletubbiesohmy, **and **ZeZe123._

**Disclaimer: Ha! No, I don't own it. **_  
_


	23. Chapter Twenty Two

**Chapter Twenty-Two **

**Frond Square**

It was several long seconds before anybody realised that they had not been blasted to bits. As the fairies started cautiously opening their eyes and saw themselves still alive, with the bomb standing inactive in the middle of the square, the truth started to creep up on them. It was slow at first, but the ecstasy of relief soon swept through the crowd, and then everybody was cheering.

"You did it, Holly!" Artemis cried.

"Well done, Holly", Root added warmly.

Foaly exploded into delighted laughter, giddy with relief. "Nice thinking, Holly. Using Mulch's hair – brilliant!"

"It hurt", Mulch complained, but he was smiling, showing his tombstone teeth. "But I'm glad you did it, Holly, even if my chin does sting."

All around them, cheers and hugs were exchanged. All the LEP personnel in the square came over to congratulate Holly and thank her for her quick thinking, as well as to catch up with their ex-commander. A few officers talked a bit with Artemis and Mulch, too, recognising their role in the events.

Everyone was in a good mood after their escapade – everyone except Sool. The disgraced gnome scowled and spit at the ground, knowing full well he would not be able to get away this time. The LEP – with Root's, Mulch's, and Artemis's help, of course – had cornered him well and truly this time. He would likely be sitting in a jail cell for the next two hundred years at least.

Now that the bomb was defused, the LEP could take their time to remove it from the square. Sool's force field was still in place, but Foaly confidently assured Trouble that he would have no problem taking it down.

"It will have disappeared by the next hour", he promised.

True to his word, twenty minutes later, Foaly located the breach in Frond Square's security and shut it down, causing the force field to disappear and allowing the trapped fairies to go where they pleased. Once it was gone, Trouble rushed into the square to make sure his officers were all right. He uttered words of encouragement and praise to Major Wydon and the captains of the three LEP units, specially thanked Captain Vein for getting the detonator away from Sool, and nodded at any officer he encountered until he reached the spot where Holly, Artemis, Mulch, and Root were standing.

"Holly, Holly, Holly", he exclaimed as he hugged her. "You had me worried there, you know that? I was scared stiff, wondering if you'd live or die. Nice work with the chloride, Mud Boy", he added to Artemis.

Artemis inclined his head, accepting the compliment. "Thank you, Trouble."

"What do you say we all go back to Police Plaza and relax over a cup of coffee or something?" suggested Trouble.

"That sounds good", Root agreed. "Before that, though, do you know where I can get my hands on an extra large fungus cigar? My supplier shop's closed down."

**_~AF~_**

**Ops Booth, Police Plaza**

Foaly hummed a Centaurian lullaby as he reset the cameras at Frond Square, one of his hoofs tapping the plasma tiles in time to the beat. He was in a very good mood, so much so that he forgot to be sarcastic to Doodah Day when the pixie called in to inquire about Mulch's whereabouts.

"Mulch is with Holly and Commander Trouble", Foaly informed the PI.

"They're all okay, right?" Doodah asked in his squeaky voice. "I was watching the news coverage from Frond Square on TV."

"They're fine", Foaly assured him.

"That's good", said Doodah. "I'll let Mulch enjoy his break. Will you let him know I'm off tracking Grennel Jones with River?"

"I'll pass the message along", Foaly promised.

Once Doodah had signed off, Foaly got up, stretched, and retrieved his cell phone from the tabletop he'd left it on. While he waited for Caballine to pick up, he swished his tail and drummed his fingers on the table, continuing his song in his head.

"Foaly?" Caballine asked the moment she answered.

"Hi, Caballine", he said.

"Foaly, are you all right?" his wife demanded. "I was watching the news – I don't know if there was anyone in Haven who wasn't. Are you okay? How's Holly? And Commander Kelp, and Julius Root, and…"

"They're all fine, Caballine", Foaly interjected before she could get too upset.

"And you?"

"Not a scratch", he promised. "I've been in the Ops Booth the whole time, as usual."

"Thank gods", Caballine said fervently. "When are you coming home, Foaly? The children want to see you."

"Soon", said Foaly. "I just want to catch up with Holly and Artemis first. I'll be back within – oh, two hours?"

"Okay", Caballine agreed. "I'll be waiting. Love you."

"Love you too." Foaly ended the call. Taking one last look at his computers, he set the alarm, locked up the booth, and trotted out to LEP HQ.

**_~AF~_**

**Trouble Kelp's Office, LEP HQ**

Artemis leaned against the back of the chair, watching Holly tap her pen on the table in an absent-minded way. Mulch was sitting not far away, stroking his beard with a gleam in his eye – reliving his thieving days in his head, Artemis presumed – and Root and Trouble had left a few minutes earlier to get coffee for everyone.

"Artemis", Holly said presently, turning to look at him.

"Yes?"

"When are you planning to leave?"

Artemis frowned. He hadn't actually thought about that. "Tonight, I suppose. I've been gone six months; I'm sure my family must be very worried."

"Er, yeah, about that…" Holly looked at the ceiling. "A couple of weeks ago, I uh…well, I didn't think you were going to come back, so I, um, well…"

"What?" asked Artemis.

"I kind of told Butler you were dead", Holly finished.

Artemis stared at her for several seconds before sighing. "I suppose that's to be expected. I did not think I would survive, either, so your actions were totally justified. However, this does create a bit of a problem…" He frowned again. "Obviously, I cannot simply knock on the door."

"I'll come up with you to explain things", Holly offered.

Artemis smiled. "I would very much appreciate that, Holly. I haven't the slightest idea what to say to my parents, and Butler especially."

"They'll probably never let you out of their sight again – once they're convinced that you're not a hallucination", chuckled Mulch.

"Who's a hallucination?" asked Root as he came in, carrying two cups of coffee, his extra-large cigar tucked into his mouth. He handed a cup to Mulch.

"Artemis's family will think he's one, when he gets back to the surface", Holly explained as she accepted her cup from Trouble.

Trouble paused midway while passing Artemis his coffee. "Hmm, that's right. How are we going to explain this one to the Mud Men? The whole surface world thinks he's dead."

"Mistaken assumption?" Mulch suggested.

"That could work", agreed Root. "The human newspapers reported that the Fowls learned of Artemis's death from a 'very reliable source'. Maybe the source was wrong."

"And what am I going to say about my whereabouts for the past half year?" inquired Artemis.

Root shrugged. "How did you explain your three-year absence?"

"We didn't. Butler told my parents about the People, and the rest of the world wasn't even aware I'd been missing."

"We could easily conjure a kidnapping story", Trouble mused. "And perhaps throw in a mention about someone seeing you unconscious and assuming you were dead."

"This is getting very elaborate", Mulch observed.

"What do you propose we do, then?" asked Trouble. "We can't possibly mind-wipe or _mesmerize _half the human population."

"We don't have to. I can formulate a perfectly acceptable excuse for the public without exposing the People or creating an exhaustingly in-depth description of a horrifying kidnapping." Mulch crossed his arms, assuming an air of superiority.

"And what's that?" Root inquired sceptically.

"You'll just have to see, won't you?" Mulch said smugly.

"How am I supposed to know if I'm willing to let you carry it out if you won't tell me?" demanded Trouble.

"Again, you'll just have to see, won't you?" repeated Mulch. "Trust me on this – I can get it done."

Holly rolled her eyes. "Okay, Mulch, you've got my vote, but it'd better not be anything drastic."

"Ha!" he snorted. "Holly, explaining away a six-month absence _is _drastic."

Holly considered that. "You've got a point", she admitted.

Just then Foaly came galloping in, whistling cheerfully.

"D'Arvit, Foaly, can't you _knock_?" Trouble demanded.

Foaly ignored him and clapped Artemis on the back. "It's nice to know you haven't lost your genius, Mud Boy", he said.

Sputtering slightly on his coffee, Artemis replied, "Thank you, Foaly."

"What did I miss?" the centaur asked, looking around the room.

"Mr. Diggums here has the perfect excuse to give the Mud Men about Artemis's absence these past six months, but he won't tell us what it is", Root summed up, eyeing the dwarf critically as he took another puff of his cigar.

"And before anyone else tries to pry it out of me, I'm going to start setting it up", added Mulch. "Artemis, you're planning to return home tonight, right?"

"Yes", he affirmed.

"Okay, then, I'll have your alibi up and running by then. I'll contact Holly and let her know what your excuse is, and she can tell you before you meet your family."

Artemis inclined his head. "Agreed."

Mulch winked at him. "It's good to have you back, Mud Boy." Then he disappeared from sight.

"Why does he do that?" Foaly asked irritably. "I didn't even get to pass Doodah's message on."

"I'll pass it on, when he calls", Holly offered. "What is it?"

Foaly told her, and then added, "I don't know if it would still apply, though, by the time he gets it."

"Doesn't matter", said Holly, as she finished her coffee. "What time do you want to leave, Artemis?"

"Perhaps in three or four hours?" he suggested. "That should give Mulch sufficient time to set my alibi up, shouldn't it?"

"It should", Trouble agreed. "Will you be needing an aboveground pass, then, Holly?"

"That might be best", she agreed. "I haven't been in trouble with Internal Affairs for over a year now. I'd like to keep it that way."

Trouble dug a pad of paper from a drawer of his desk and signed one of them. He tore it off and handed it to Holly. "Here. Don't lose it."

"Don't worry, Trouble; I think I can keep it safe for four hours."

"If you can't, you'd make a very sad excuse for a Major", said Root. He sucked deeply on the last of his cigar, then stubbed it out in Trouble's ash tray.

* * *

_**A/N: Sigh. We're close to the end. Tomorrow will be the last chapter of the story, and then the day after that will be the epilogue, and then it'll be over. Ah, well...yes, I wrote the traditional happy ending. I'm naturally optimistic, so I infinitely prefer happy endings, but occasionally I will write tragedies. Blame my imagination. Besides, after a story like this, there's no way I could have not written the ending the way I did. it's kind of like fantasy series - you know there'll be a happy ending eventually, but you don't know **_**how _it's going to get there or what exactly happens. So in effect, you know the ending, but not the beginning or middle. Gives you something to think about, huh? Thanks to _**_dimka-roza-belikova **and **ZeZe123, **the only two readers who reviewed last chapter. How faithful!**_

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own **_Artemis Fowl.__**  
**_


	24. Chapter Twenty Three

**Chapter Twenty-Three **

**Tara, Ireland**

As Holly stepped onto the ground of Tara, she couldn't help thinking that today's visit to Fowl Manor would provide a stunning contrast to the visit she had made three weeks ago. Watching Artemis climb out of the pod, she found she was very glad that was so.

"It's a beautiful night", Artemis observed as he came to stand beside Holly.

"It is", Holly agreed. "Almost exactly the same as the night we met."

Artemis cringed. "Ah, don't do that, Holly."

"Do what?" She sounded genuinely puzzled.

"Please, Holly. I'm not so obtuse as not to recognise the slight point in that sentence. How many times must I apologise for kidnapping you that year?"

"But I wasn't implying anything of the sort", protested Holly. "I was just remembering the night we met – with some fondness, if I might add. We've had some adventures, haven't we?" she said fondly.

Artemis suddenly found something very interesting to look at in the old oak tree by the river bend, and Holly knew he was thinking along the same lines she was.

"So, where do we go from here?" Holly asked.

"I have no idea", confessed Artemis. "These emotions are completely new to me, though I suspect they have been building up for some time. Regardless, this is not my area of expertise."

Holly rolled her eyes. "This almost reminds me of that time you wanted to learn friendship from a book."

Artemis examined his shoes. "I'm rather wishing I could learn _this _from a book", he almost mumbled. "I haven't the slightest idea what to do."

"Just do what comes naturally, Arty", Holly said softly, edging closer to him.

"Like that time in the past when you kissed me after we rescued Jayjay?" he asked, finally looking at her.

Holly smiled. "Maybe."

Neither of them fully realised what they were doing, but soon they were kissing, sweetly and innocently, not unlike their first kiss in the tiger cage several years ago.

"Holly", Artemis said nervously when the kiss ended, "I don't know how to make this work. I've never had a…a girlfriend."

"I've had a few casual dating relationships, but never one quite like you", Holly admitted. "For one thing, you're a Mud Boy."

"Which begs the question: are we genetically compatible?" he mused. "If we're going to do this, it might be best to consider that."

Holly sighed, torn between exasperation and amusement. "Stop thinking for once in your life, Artemis, and let's just take it step by step", she advised.

"Is that our decision, then?" wondered Artemis. "To try?"

"Yes", she agreed. "We'll try. The gods know if and how it's going to work out, but we will try."

Artemis smiled. "That sounds good to me."

They sealed their agreement with another chaste kiss, which was humorously interrupted by Holly's communicator ringing. She sighed and broke away from Artemis.

"Yes, Mulch?"

"Are you at Tara yet?" the dwarf asked.

Holly exchanged a glance with Artemis. "Yes, we are", she replied.

"Excellent." Holly could swear she heard the dwarf's toes wriggling.

"Spit it out, Mulch, what did you do?"

"Tell Artemis his excuse is that he was experimenting with his 'friend' – the one the newspapers speculated was his girlfriend – who, if you recall, is you…"

"Mulch", Holly said threateningly.

"It's not what you think!" Mulch objected. "By experimenting, I mean scientifically, of course. I told the press Artemis was researching a new energy source."

"_You _told the press?"

"I'm pretending to be the Fowls' source, Holly, they think I'm a dwarfed Mud Man – don't distract me…Now listen. You and Artemis were experimenting with an energy alternative to 'help make the world a better place' and blah blah blah – and the experiment backfired and you had to initiate lockdown mode for six months to prevent contamination of the outside world – think something along the lines of nuclear test gone wrong. Obviously, you had to quarantine yourselves, too, and you couldn't get word out because you were virtually isolating yourselves from everyone and the phones and computers weren't working. That's the official story I fed to the press; they'll be printing it on the front page tomorrow morning."

Artemis groaned.

"Is that Artemis?" demanded Mulch.

"Yes", Holly replied. "Did I forget to mention you're on speaker?"

"As a matter of fact, you did!"

"There's one more variable to take into account", Artemis interjected. "What did you tell them about the rumours of my 'death'?"

"Oh, that." Mulch sounded dismissive. "Simple. As the source of those rumours, I told the Mud Men I had made a mistake – not unreasonable, considering the length of time you were out of action."

Artemis nodded, satisfied. "That sounds perfectly logical, Mulch, with one exception: I don't need anymore media exposure."

"Hey, take it and be grateful", retorted Mulch. "You would have made headlines anyway, but at least my way ensures less paparazzi than the kidnapping story Trouble wanted to feed the world."

"Point taken", Artemis ceded. "Thank you, Mulch."

"One more thing, Artemis", Mulch said. "I told the press I found all this out because you'd returned and set the record straight with me and your family. So you might want to let them know as soon as possible, preferably before the reporters start hammering on the doors to interview you."

"You couldn't have told us this earlier?" Holly asked.

"Do you want to complain or do you want to thank me and get to Fowl Manor before your alibi falls apart?" Mulch demanded.

"Thank you, Mulch", said Holly with an air of finality. "We'll take it from here. By the way, Doodah says to tell you that he's tracking Grennel Jones with River."

"He is?" said Mulch. "Okay, I need to catch up with him. Grennel Jones is one slippery dwarf. Thanks for the message. See you, Holly, Artemis." He hung up.

"Put this on, Artemis", Holly instructed as she handed Artemis a Moonbelt.

"Just like old times?" Artemis asked with a slight smile as he strapped the Moonbelt in place. Holly smiled in return as she draped a sheet of cam-foil over him.

"Just like old times", she agreed, attaching the Moonbelt's cable to her own belt. Then she fired up the SkyCraft wings on her back and rose into the moonlit night sky.

* * *

_**A/N: And...wait! Not quite the end! One more post - tomorrow's epilogue! Credit for Mulch's alibi goes to my brother, who came up with it while I was bouncing ideas off him. Yes, I shipped Holly and Artemis together, because it seemed as if I couldn't ignore all the damning evidence Eoin Colfer put in his books. That kiss in **The Time Paradox **- as well as numerous other hints - finally convinced me that Artemis and Holly are supposed to be together, although I don't mind either way (Holly can get with Trouble and I'd still like it). If Colfer ends up pairing Holly with Trouble and/or Artemis with Minerva (who, by the way, has only appeared in **_**one _book), he'll have to put some pretty good logic and reasons into the decision. Anyway, I'm rambling. Thanks to _**_mischievous101, dimka-roza-belikova, Slip On Ice, greenluvr14, ZeZe123, sillyninja, **and **ghostsaliensteletubbiesohmy **for reviewing!**_

**Disclaimer: I was just talking about how Colfer has hinted at the outcome of Holly and Artemis's relationship, but never actually put them together...yet. You really think I'm him?**


	25. Epilogue

_**A/N: Just in advance here, thanks to everyone who has reviewed and/or is going to review on this story from this point on. I really appreciate all your feedback and support. Thank you once again and see you next time!**_

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**_**Epilogue **

**Fowl Manor, Dublin, Ireland**

"Door! Door!" cried three-year-old Beckett Fowl as the doorbell rang. "Mummy, door!"

"Mummy's in the kitchen, simple-toon", said his twin, Myles. "Don't disturb her." He plodded to the door, stretched up on tiptoe, and just managed to pull the handle. "Arty!"

"Arty?" repeated Beckett, coming around to peer at their guest. "Arty!"

"Hello, Myles, Beckett", Artemis greeted.

"I knew you'd come back!" exclaimed Beckett. "I told you so", he said triumphantly to Myles. "Mummy said you died. I didn't know what that was, so Mummy explained that you weren't coming back. We were sad about that, but I didn't really believe it. Myles did, though." He grinned smugly at his brother.

Myles stuck out his tongue. "Did not, simple-toon."

Artemis smiled. He had seen his brothers little more than a week ago, but he knew they had not seen him for far longer. "Well, I'm back now", he said. "Where's Mother?"

Beckett made a face. "Mummy's cooking."

"Cooking?" questioned Artemis. "Since when?"

"She made pudding the day you left", Myles informed him. "It tasted horrible. But she's getting better. Tonight she's making chicken."

"Myles said we mustn't disturb her", Beckett chimed in.

"Kids, who's at the door?" asked Angeline Fowl as she came into the room, spatula in hand. Her eyes grew wide as she saw her eldest son standing in the doorway. "Arty?" she gasped.

"Hello, Mother", said Artemis, cringing mentally at the woefully inadequate greeting.

"I told you he was coming back, Mummy", Beckett said jubilantly. "I told you."

"You said he _might _come back", Myles corrected. "You never said he _would_."

"Did so!"

"Did not, simple-toon."

Angeline was not listening to their playful quarrel; she was staring incredulously at Artemis, who was shuffling his feet at the door. "Arty, is that really you?" she breathed.

"It's me, Mother", Artemis confirmed. "I'm sorry I was away so long."

The spatula dropped to the carpeted floor, forgotten, as Angeline raced forward to embrace her son. Artemis had only a split second of warning before he was enveloped in a crushing hug in his mother's arms.

"Arty, Arty, Arty", she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Arty."

"Um…" Artemis shifted awkwardly before he returned the hug. He still had no idea what to say. After a moment's more thought, he settled for apologising. "I'm sorry, Mother."

"Artemis Fowl Junior, don't you _ever _do that to me again", Angeline exclaimed. "I was so worried when you didn't come back – and then Butler said Holly told him you'd died…"

"I think you must have mixed up my name", said a new voice, deep and manly. Artemis looked up to see his father coming in. "What exactly did I do this…" He stopped short when he saw Artemis.

"Daddy, Daddy, Arty came back!" announced Beckett. "I told you he would."

"Did _not_", Myles insisted. Beckett was too excited to pay him any attention.

And then Artemis Senior was hugging his son too, all dignity abandoned.

Artemis spent the next few hours assuring his parents that he was fine, that he was really there, and explaining the lockdown-because-of-experiment-gone-wrong excuse Mulch had set up for him while the twins spent half their time listening with rapt attention and shining eyes and half the time arguing with each other. Midway through the explanation, Butler appeared, having just returned from the gym, and the manservant's eyes bugged from the shock and surprise at seeing his charge in the living room. Artemis mouthed, "Later", to his trusted bodyguard and Butler, with a bemused but wary expression, sat down to listen to the rest of the explanation until Artemis could speak to him privately later. And when Juliet came to investigate what the twins were yelling about ("I told you, Mummy, Daddy, I told you!" Beckett declared. "Did _not, _simple-toon", said Myles), Butler communicated Artemis's message to her with subtle sign language learned at Madam Ko's Academy, and she took her place on the couch, staring very hard at Artemis.

It was a hectic two-and-a-half hours and several retellings later that a weary Artemis was finally allowed to stop talking when Angeline (after many promises by Artemis that he would not disappear again) reluctantly rose to take Myles and Beckett to bed (her chicken remained in the oven, forgotten until the next morning when a maid would find it smoking). Artemis Senior smiled at Artemis and patted his shoulder before following his wife out of the room, herding the drowsy, but still arguing, twins. And then Artemis, Butler, and Juliet were finally alone.

Juliet was still staring at Artemis, as if she wasn't sure he was not a ghost or some sort of hallucination.

Correctly interpreting her piercing gaze, Artemis said, "I really am here, Juliet. Let's go to my study; I shall explain in detail there." He rose as one with Butler, and Juliet followed suit.

"Artemis", rumbled Butler, with an odd catch to his voice. He seemed to struggle with his words for a moment before placing a mute hand on his principal's shoulder. "I've missed you."

Artemis surprised Butler by hugging him tightly. "I wasn't gone long enough for me to miss you, Butler, but I'm sorry for all I've put you through. Truly I am."

"What exactly happened?" inquired Butler.

"Yes, please do enlighten us", said Juliet. "I'm so confused. Hey", she added when she saw a slight shimmer by Artemis's shoulder. "Is Holly here?"

Artemis smiled and Butler looked at him quizzically. This was a different smile, softer and gentler than the ones he had seen before. Butler shrewdly guessed that something more than friendship had developed between Artemis and Holly since the last time he'd seen them.

Holly winked and grinned as she vibrated into view. "Hello, Butler, Juliet. Sorry about the mis-informed message I gave you last time."

Artemis sighed and pushed the door to his study open. "Shall we?"

Butler's lips turned up in the hint of a smile as he entered with Juliet. Holly fluttered to Artemis's shoulder and gave him a winning smile that was still sweet and soft.

"Let the story begin", she whispered in his ear. Artemis smiled and closed the door.

* * *

_**A/N: The end.**_


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